The Neon War
by CJFANG
Summary: In the other end of the world of Inner Peace, a war rages on between two countries. This is a story about each sides, each of them having the power of Biometal. Will one boy from a different world be able to survive this war? Sequel to Trigger. DISCONTINUED
1. Prologue Part 1

Well, the moment my loyal readers have been waiting for. A branched off sequel to Trigger. Well, here is the prologue of the Neon War!

* * *

"Man, this is crazy." A boy with a dark blue military uniform was sitting down on the shotgun seat of a nice futuristic car. They were going down the busy stree of Cula, in the country of Neol with other futuristic like cars. He had spiky dark brown hair with dark brown eyes.

"It's not crazy, all you did was infiltrate an Aeon facility, and happened to be the chosen one... well, I guess it's kinda crazy," The driver laughed. He was wearing the same type of uniform as the boy in the shotgun seat. Both of them had a blood colored winged sword insignia on their left shoulders. He had short brown hair with jade eyes. Typical Neolian look.

"Dude, I got a medal and got promoted! Twice!" The boy in the shotgun seat turned to the driver.

"Well, yo- Shit! Not on my watch!" The traffic light about a hundred meters away turned a yellow light. The driver floored the gas pedal to beat it. The boy was sent into his seat from the sudden acceleration. Right when the light turned red, the driver sped past it, cheering.

"Jeez! Slow down! We're not in our fighter jets!" The boy told the driver as he struggled his way out of the seat. the driver just tilted his head and clicked his toungue.

"I wish we were. Driving's so damn slow!" The boy smiled.

"Don't worry, once we're off our break, we'll be up in the air in no time." The car drifted to turn a corner.

"Thank God you don't fly as crazy as this! And watch out, police might wonder why some kid is driving." The driver grinned.

"I'm sixteen ain't I? Besides, we're in the military. And at least I'm not as crazy as you are at flying, 'Wild Fang'." The boy snickered.

"We're at break 'Wild Dog', let's keep it that way for now."

"Whatever, I just can't wait to get home and hit the sack."

"You gotta drop me off remember?"

"Relax Chris, it's not like you're gonna miss your date!" The driver laughed as Chris rolled down the window to stick his arm out, feeling the wind through his fingers and arm.

"Considering I even have one Dave!" David shot him a glare before scoffing.

"Whatever lover-boy." After a drive in the sun, in the city, they reached the park. It was conveniently located right next to the Cula Lake, the town's lake (Obviously...). The park was filled with people, enjoying the nice weather and walking around socializing with one another. Chris smiled as he opened the door and stepped out.

"Have fun with your girl!" Dave yelled while Chris closed the car door. He raised his hand in a "Goodbye" gesture without even turning around to face the car. He heard the car drive off, away from the park. Chris looked at his surroundings, a peaceful flat space of grass, trees, benches, and a great view of the bridge formed over the lake that connected Cula with another city. Chris sat down on a bench that was next to a lightpole. He spread his legs and had his elbows on his knees, his hands hanging while he slumped forward. He stared at the vast lake, thinking deeply to himself as he watched the glare of the sun.

_'This is probably gonna be my last break. The only reason I'm here is cause they're satisfied with my achievements... It's such a pain to serve in the Youth Air Force and the Neon Special Forces at the same time. Considering the fact I've become a, "Chosen One."'_

Chris balled his fists, _'This power... Biometal... what exactly is it?!?'_ Chris then yawned and realised how tired he was. He stretched out his arms while he leaned back on the bench.

_'Well, it'll be a while before Luna gets here...'_ He puts his feet on the bench as he laid down sideways on it. His left arm hung off of the bench while his head was still facing the lake.

_'I guess I can wait... I'm totally out of it...'_ In a matter of seconds, he fell asleep. Softly snoring.

* * *

Well, there's a start. Not impressive, but there it is. Yes, these two boys are in the Neolian military, the same military that Cyphrus has to go up against. I'm gonna have so much fun writing this... Despite the fact I have to sneak on and I can't reply to any reviews through my phone... Except check my e mail.

Tell me how ya feel, stupified, angry, whatever, in your review. I will catch ya later!


	2. Prologue Part 2

Here's Prologue, part 2.

* * *

"Ugh..." Ash woke up on the ground of a grey labratory. He looked around in the darkness, an abandoned area with cracked walls, blown up computers, a single lit up screen, and bullet holes were all he saw.

"Wait... bullet holes?!" He abruptly shot up, everything was scorched. Only the light of the dull computer screen shone on his face. He breathed in, but coughed uncontrollably, bringing a hand over his nose and mouth.

"This smell, it's...!" Ash then tripped over something while he tried to move, falling face first into something soft. He groaned and brought his head up to be staring at the golden dead eyes of a woman. He screamed, pushing himself up, but his feet hit something else. Another body. He put both of his hands on his mouth, staring at the spawled bodies on the floor. Some were missing body parts, some burned, but what disgusted him the most was tha-

"AH!" His screams were muffled by a hand, he flailed before a tightening grip held on to his neck.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Cyphrus whispered. Ash was let go of and whipped around to see a boy with spikey red hair and red eyes. He wore an armored vest over his white T shirt and replaced his shoes with boots. His backpack straps was firmly tightened against his body.

"Cy-Cyphrus, what happened?!" Cyphrus sternly looked at the bodies on the floor.

"No time to explain. You still have that pistol I gave you?" Ash reached into his pocket to pull out a pistol.

"Good. Keep it out." Cyphrus looked around and bent down to pry a dead guard's fingers off of an assault rifle's handle. He pulled the magazine out of the gun to find it fully loaded. He took the extra mags from the dead soldier, who didn't have a face to show that same dead emotion. Cyphrus slid the magazine back, pulling the bolt back and letting it go.

"Lily should be around here, let's find her." The two held their guns while they traveled around the darkened labratory, the computer's lights didn't seem to reach the whole area. They found a girl walking toward them with a backpack and a magnum. She also wore the same armored vest Cyphrus wore, her short shorts replaced with cargos.

"I can't believe they're all dead..." Lily said while she holstered her magnum and tied a ponytail with her long blue hair. She closed her blue eyes and sighed with sadness. Cyphrus looked away,

"Me neither." He looked for an exit and sighed. Ash asked Cyphrus a question while the trio walked toward the open reinforced doors:

"What happened here?" Lily frowned as she explained, the three cautiously walking out into the hallway.

"We got to Altomare through a device that transported us to a different world. This was the area where the device was built and used. The three of us," Cyphrus grimaced at the phrase, "The three of us."

"The three of us..." Lily once again, sighing,"volunteered to go to Altomare. Right when we were about to leave, the research facility got attacked by a team of Neo elite soldiers. The three of us got to Altomare safely, but it looks like the device was destroyed, as well as most of the facility." The trio walked toward a light at the end of the hallway, the floor slanted and the three walked lower.

"Wait, are we going the right way?" Lily asked Cyphrus. He led the way, and didn't turn to her.

"I need to check something." He frowned while they reached a room with a blown up door. Also, inside, was a large shattered cylinder that would hold a large organism or object. Ash and Lily looked at each other and stopped in their tracks to see the room. The siren, which used to be blaring red, was not a black piece of scarlet. The room was small, it had a computer on the left side once they walked in, and a single gun turret was disfunctional. The room was only lit by the single computer screen, dim and scary. The cylinder looked like it was shattered by bullets, the glass reflecting the light of the computer screen. Cyphrus went over to the computer and pushed the chair away. He bent over to read the computer's screen. He grit his teeth while he read the words on the screen,

**BIOMETAL MODEL T**

**DATA INCOMPLETE**

**ERROR.**

**ARANMENTS:**

**ARM [SWITCHBLADE] BEAM BLADES X2  
BEAM PISTOLS X2  
_TIME TRIGGER  
_LIGHT ARMOR**

"What's that?" Ash asked Cyphrus. The red haired soldier slammed a fist on the desk.

"The biometal... it's gone..." Lily walked over to the computer.

"Oh no..." Lily's face went blank. Ash, with no clue about what happened, scratched the back of his head. Lily slowly turned back to Ash with a guilty expression,

"The Aeon forces recovered a strange metal from this exact spot in the middle of this forest. The biometal Cyphrus had and the biometal unvocered here were supposed to be used to help us in the war."

"It looked like we weren't the true targets..." Cyphrus stood up straight.

"W-who was supposed to use it?" Ash lowered his gun. The two Aeon soldiers stared at Ash,

"You were." They both simaltaneously said. Ash widened his eyes, put his hands up and stepped back.

"Wh-what?"

"You showed signs of being a chosen one," Cyphrus stated.

"How?"

"You could hear Model C first of all, and you said that you were the 'Chosen One' of the orange islands, right?" Ash gulped.

"Y-yea, but does it apply here?" Cyphrus slowly nodded.

"Acquiring a chosen one was actually our main objective. We happened to come across you."

"Why me?! I'm just a pokemon trainer, I'm nobody special!!"

"Yes you are Ash. Just looking at you tells me something about what kind of person you are." Ash grasped his head,

"... Wasn't I supposed to grow strong enought to protect Latias?"

"Ash, that was the main reason why you were here. I wouldn't have forced you to come here." Ash groaned.

"Why didn't you tell me this?" Cyphrus looked at the screen once again, hiding his apologetic eyes. He stared at the bold green lettering at the black screen.

"I should have." Lily softly frowned. Ash closed his eyes.

"Ash, you can g-"

"I'll do it." Cyphrus and Lily suprisingly looked at Ash, who reopened his eyes, which had a fire burning within them.

"For Latias, for Latios, and for the ones I love and are close to me," Ash clenched his fists, "I might die, but I'll rather die with a purpose. Count me in." Cyphrus stared at Ash.

"You're so cheesy," Cyphrus sighed and adjusted his backpack.

"There's no turning back now, Once you enlist, you've made your final choice. Think about it." Cyphrus turned to the pitch black hallway.

"If we do get out of here..."

* * *

Okay, I know what you're thinking, What the hell is a guy from Pokemon doing in the megaman world?!? Trust me, I question myself too sometimes. But hear me out, it isn't gonna be childish. It's war. And sorry for not combining the two prologues, I had no time cause I had to sneak in to this computer.

I HIGHLY suggest you read Trigger if you haven't read it already. It's in my stories, and leave a review too.

Peace out, I'll be back with more chapters if I can sneak on again!

Your Brother in Arms,  
Cj Fang


	3. Get the Hell Out!

Alright, here's the next chapter! And don't be a prick about how late I update my stories.

* * *

Cyphrus's head popped out of the corner of a wall, staring into the dark abyss of the research facility. He flashed briefly, biomerging with Model C and handing the assault rifle to Ash. He turned on his night vision, rewarded with the sight of his dead comrades on the ground. The sandbag barrier, which was now scorched along with everything else, looked like it had been a mere obstacle on the Neo forces that intruded here.

He went around the corner, Lily and Ash following shortly. Cyphrus's anger flared up at the amount of dead bodies on their own turf. It looks as if this facility was completely wiped out. They reached the elevator, glad to find that it still worked despite the burned walls. One half of the top was torn off, holes and burnt areas were present.

"Damn, all this from a single team of Neo Special Forces?!?" Cyphrus growled.

"Well, they do have the more advanced technology and weaponry. Not to mention the fact that they're in possession of a biometal now..." Lily said while she crouched down into a resting position. "To think that we turned the tide of the war with just one biometal, what will happen with two on each side?"

"So... who exactly is winning?" Ash asked, entering the crouching position like Lily. He looked up at Cyphrus, who had his arms crossed while he stood staring at the burnt walls.

"It looks like the tables have turned on Aeonia." Cyphrus frowned. A brief moment of silence ran through the three before they felt the elevator stop at ground level. When the doors opened, they witnessed the carnage in front of them. Bodies hung limp from tables and chairs, the room was also black, and the hall covered in dry blood. A handful of soldiers were cut open also. All of this was visible from a crack from the blown up door at the end of everything.

"Oh my God..." The three walked over to the table that had a shriveled up deck of cards, but the only card fully intact was the Ace of Spades that fell from the table. When Cyphrus bent over to pick up the card, he noticed that their dog tags were off of their chests.

"How long were we gone?" Cyphrus asked no one in particular while he pocketed the card. the faces and bodies of the soldiers were twisted and burnt to the point to where it was out of recognition. Ash dropped his assault rifle and put his hands over his mouth while he witnessed the torn apart bodies.

"Ash? Are you alright?" Lily asked. Ash just ran to an empty corner to throw up. While he did, Cyphrus patted his back. Ash then pulled back up, grunting.

"It's alright. It's a natural reaction." Cyphrus noticed the door, light coming in from the large crack in it. Debris from both the ruins and the walls blocked the path.

"Alright, stand back," Cyphrus pulled the large gun from his back and pointed at the opening. The gun was charged and Cyphrus let out a large, linear blue blast of pure energy. Dust soon covered the room, leaving Lily and Ash coughing. The sun literally poured down into the room, leaving the three squinting. It took them a while to adjust to the light. The three stepped out, staring at the few dead trees from the collateral damage from the explosion. The forest after them was vast and alivd.

"We're out..." Lily commented, lowering her gun.

"Now we need to find a way out of here," Cyphrus added. Ash stared at the clear sky, He was never this happy to be out of that darkened hell. He was speechless at the blueness of the-

_"Stay on guard... something's here,"_ Model C talked to Cyphrus.

"Don't let your guard down guys..." Cyphrus relayed Model C's commands. At that, Lily flinched at a slight rustled coming from a bush in the forest. She brought the gun to her shoulder while she pointed her rifle at the bush.

"Hello?" Ash asked, his gun also at the ready. Cyphrus clutched his gun. A moment of eerie silence passed, the three focused on that one bush...

A large blur on the ground sped out of the same bush, weaving through the dead trees. Lily opened fire, hitting it dead on from her quick thinking and her reflexes. The blur turned out to be a metal ovject in the shape of a canine. It fell limp on the dirt.

"Hounds!" Lily exclaimed.

"Shit, others probably heard the shots, Ash, get back into the ruins!" Ash reluctantly stepped back, hiding behind a broken pillar, peeking out of the side. Lily and Cyphrus stood back to back, their weapons at the ready.

"If there's one, there's at least five more," Lily whispered.

"I know." The sound of a twig snapping caused Cyphrus to turn his right and fire three shots in a burst towards the noise in the foliage. For a silent moment, the three watched the forest, but nothing moved an inch.

"There!" Cyphrus fired at a dead tree, breaking away bark and dead wood.

"Watch it, these things are-"

"I know I know!" Built to seek and destroy. The hounds were a dangerous weapon used by Neo forces. With an AI that acts like a predator, it was built to be unpredictable and deadly. Armed with claws, teeth, and a needle full of either poison or a numbing anesthetic. the hound can pin down a full grown human and tear it to shreds.

"Aw God..." Cyphrus grit his teeth. He put on his HUD for a thermal scan, but found nothing. The houdns were using coolers and climate adapters for stealth. What they didn't know was the hounds weren't on the ground...

With a thump, Cyphrus turned and fired his large weapon at a blur that jumped off a tree. It landed on the dead grass, dodging bullets with liquidized motions. Cyphrus grit his teeth and turned off his thermal scan to switch to his Multi-Targeting-Engagement-System (Now MTES). He managed to pinpoint the head and every limb of the hound with his eye and a confirmation from his brain to the helmet. Model C did the resst as Cyphrus let the biometal do his work in him while he felt his arm raise up on its own, firing five shots at the blur. Just as planned, he hit each leg and the head with energy shots, knocking the bottom half of its lefs torn off and its head with a gaping hole.

Lily was firing her assault rifle from her hip, firing toward the houdns in the tree branches. She managed to take one down, its mechanical body thumping in the grass. Ash stood inside the ruins.

_'How the hell are they fighting these things?'_ He realised something slowly moving in one of the branches. He stared at the metal muzzle and the red eyes. It peeked out of the opening of the leaves on the tree branch he was on, and he looked down at Lily and Cyphrus, He was right above them!

Ash realised that if he warned them right now, the hound would pounce on one of them and it would be too late. Same if he didn't do anything to help. He watched the hound in horror as it extracted a needled from its tooth filled mouth, glistening with with a purple-like liquid. He raised his assault rifle at the hound despite his novice with a gun and aimed at the hound. He lined up the sights at the mechanical canine, closed his eyes to hope for the best and pulled the trigger. Ash held the trigger down, firing a stream of bullets at the hound. dead on. Ash opened his eyes and let go of the trigger, watching as the hound crashed between Cyphrus and Lily. He suprised himself and the two others at his kill.

"Wow Ash," Lily lowered her gun. "I never knew you cou- **GYEEAAAAH!!!!!!**" Lily didn't get to finish her sentence as she felt a sharp pain shoot through her left shin. She looked down to see a needle stabbed into her skin, all the way to the bone. At the other end of the needle was a pair of red eyes and a golden muzzle. Before the hound did more damage, she erupted her assault rifle into the area between the red eyes. The red glare dissapeared long before Lily completely emptied the rifle's clip. The hound crumpled to the ground and Lily was also dragged down with the mechanical dog, the needle still stuck in her leg. Ash watched as Cyphrus put the long gun on his back. Cyphrus rushed over to Lily, took off her backpack, and pinned her down from moving.

"Ash! Get over here! Quick!"

Ash ran over to Cyphrus. He fell to the ground with his left knee on the dead grass, his gun in a dirt patch. He looked at Lily, she had a needle prodding from her leg, the blood pouting out of the puncture. She tried to get Cyphrus off her in an attempt to relieve her pain, her eyes shut and her teeth clenched.

"Ash, I need you to pull out the needle. No matter how much she screams, you have to pull it out," Cyphrus turned his head to Ash and said gravely.

"N-no! It hurts! Ah!" Lily whimpered as Cyphrus held her down tighter.

"I-I-" Ash stammered, staring at the poor girl.

"This is for the better, no matter how much it hurts, it has to be done one way or another!" Cyphrus told Ash. Lily opened her pain teared eyes to look at Cyphrus. He looked away from her expression, fearing that he would eventually let go if he stared into those eyes for too long.

"Ready?" Cyphrus exhaled. Ash put a foot on Lily's leg for support and held on the hound's muzzle. "One... Two... Three!!" Ash pulled with all his might at the large needle that prodded out of her leg. Lily started to scream and struggled to break free from Cyphrus's body that held her down. Ash fell back as he yanked the needle out. Cyphrus let go of her when he saw the needle fly out of her leg, which was followed by blood. Lily immediately shot up and wrapped her arms around Cyphrus in an attempt to lessen the pain. Tears streaked down her face, her arms in a death grip around Cyphrus, who did the same to Lily, squeezing her. After a while, Lily's screaming subsided. She loosedned her grip on Cyphrus.

"Ash, there should be a medical kit in Lily's backpack. Take it out." Ash scrambled over to the backpack that was a few feet away. He opened it and searched through the bag to find a white box with a red cross on the front.

"I'm sorry," Cyphrus whispered. Lily could only whimper.

"Alright, what should I do?" Ash came over with the medical kit.

"First, take out the painkiller, it should be in a small canister with clear liquid." Ash took it out. "Now, find the injector, it looks like a weird pistol," Cyphrus said. He reached in to find something like a handgun, it had a handle, trigger, barrel, and the back was a port and slide where the canister was supposed to be in.

"Alright, put the canister there. Push the slide forward then give it to me." Ash followed every order. Cyphrus took it then put the injector's barel at Lily's thy. He pulled the trigger and heard the injection. The slide then opened up and shot out the empty canister. Lily sighed and fully let go of Cyphrus.

"Can you walk?" Cyphrus asked. Lily shook her head. "Hopefully that wasn't poison..." Cyphrus put her on his back, slumping her over him. To him, she wasn't that heavy from the biometal's increased strength and endurance by 2.

"All right Ash, pick up your weapon. Take my backpack and put it on your front while you carry your own on your back. Carefull, Shawn is still in there..." Cyphrus grimaced. "We gotta go south..."

* * *

"Sir! We detected movement at the forest of Tiende and lost track of one of our hound packs, we think it's the team of the crossworld mission!" A boy with a purple uniform ran into a darkened room with officers at advanced computers and that were near the high ranked Colonel. He wore a purple decorated uniform.

"Send a battaliion with armor and helicopters after the team, we cannot allow them to return to their comrades," The Colonel spoke with a strong Russian accent.

"The Neo army shall not let the chose one return to the Aeons. I do not care if you bring them dead or alive, bring me the biometal."

* * *

"Mam! Something's going on, something big. The Neos have mobilized vehicles to the forest of Tiende, as well as detected movement," An operator turned away from his computer to face the woman in the middle of the room. All of them had green uniforms. She turned to face the operator, locking eyes.

"Our team has come home, do whatever it takes to get them home."

* * *

Cyphrus ran with Lily on his back, her legs and arms locked around his neck and waist. He held his large gun in one hand and held on to Lilu's hands with the other. Lily still ha dher backpack still on her back, gritting her teeth while she tried to hang on to him. Ash followed, weaving through branches and roots as they ran through the forest.

_"Cyphrus, I'm detecting movement from the north and the south. I think we just angered a nest of hornets,"_ Model C's voice punctured through Cyphrus's head.

"Shit, we gotta move faster. The Neos probably know we're here," He told Lily and Ash. Ash groaned, readjusting the gun in his hands.

_"Cy... Come... over..."_ Cyphrus heard the communicator spark into life. He let go of Lily's hand to activate the comms line.

"This is Cyphrus Cross, Wardog Unit leader. Requesting immediate support and medevac!"

_"...Cro... Commun... Jammi..."_ Cyphrus's communicator crackled.

"Damn!" Cyphrus cursed. An electronic support plane is probably over them as he pondered in his head, jamming Aeon communications and hindering some Aeon HUD and computer guidance systems. With that in place, an enemy force is probably on their way right now. They needed to get out of there to the neares Aeon facility. The problem was that there was no communication, and no comfimation that an Aeon facility was within miles.

_"Cyphrus, we're on our own now. I can't reach GPS and other military satelites,"_ Model C said with a tone that cursed the enemy.

"Hang on you guys, we're gonna get there soon!" Cyphrus lied. He had absolutely no idea if he might be either near the Aeon zone, or behind enemy lines. Ash only nodded and tried to run harder to try to keep a pace.

_'Model C,'_ Cyphrus throught, _'I think we should stop at a good defensive positino and stay put.'_

_'One way or another, they're gonna find us. Their ECM plane is still in the Air, they'll find us a hell lot quicker that normal,'_ Model C spoke in his head.

_'That can be solved can't it?'_ Cyphrus asked.

_'If you're thinking about shooting it down, I suggest Lily and Ash start moving without us. That way, it should buy us a little more time.'_

"Ash, do you think you can carry Lily? You can give me my backpack back. Can you carry her?" Cyphrus set Lily down on a soft patch of grass.

"I-I think," Ash stammered.

"No, you don't think, you _will_ do it. You're a soldier now. I want you to go left for a hundred paces, then turn right and keep heading south. Lily, help him out if you can in any way," Cyphrus ordered the two. Ash switched the backpacks with Cyphrus and put Lily on his back.

"Go, go!" Ash started to run off into the vegetation.

"Alright, time to bring out the big guns..." Cyphrus took his gun, putting it on the top of his shoulder instead of fitting the gun under his armpit. Once he put his shoulder into the crook of his gun, a sight slid from the gun, fitting perfectly on the HUD slide from his helmet and his eye.

_'Alright, Model C, you do the rest.'_

_'It'll zoom in a ton, make sure you don't shake too much.'_ Through the sights, it grew blue. It kept growing a more bolder color of blue until he finally got a clear image of a plane high up in the blue sky. Perfect target. Cyphrus closed his left eye.

_'Model C, can you auto lock that? I don't wanna miss.'_

_'We're locked on now. Hurry, charge that gun before I disengage the auto lock from your muscle fatigue.'_ The sight, it's normal clear color, turned crimson with the speck smack dab in the middle with a white reticle.

"Say your prayers," Cyphrus prepared to fire, a empty bar on the bottom right hand corner started to fill in with white.

_'3...2...1...'_ Cyphrus pulled the trigger, watching his large blue beam of energy go straight up to the plane. He saw an orange fireball and a trail of smoke.

_'Now let's get the hell out of here!'_

* * *

From the north, a Neo scout, dressed in camo gear, communicated via comms device to his commanding officer.

"Target sighted. Deploy mavericks to the following coordinates..."

* * *

From the south, a whole team of Aeon soldiers watched the blue beam emit from near the edge of the forest.

"We found em! Contact base, we're heading over right now!"

* * *

Ash ran with Lily on her back, making sure that he wasn't tripping or making it harder for Lily.

"Lily! Are you okay?" Ash asked without looking back.

"No!!" Lily hissed. Ash grimaced, but kept going knowing the fact that Lily spoke for the first time in five minutes of running. He heard crunches and snaps behind him, and Cyphrus appeared to his side.

"Keep going! Ash, give me Lily!" They exchanged whatever they had on their backs. Ash could now run his normal pace, his adreline pumping through his veins. They kept running through the deep vegetation, avoiding every obstacle. In an opening of the top of the forest, the three looked at the shadowed figures blocking part of the sun.

"Oh God!" Ash screamed.

"Go faster!" The two boys picked up their paces when those figures came closer.

"Any Aeon force, unit, or whatever the hell is Aeon, this is Cyphrus Cross! We need _immediate_ assistance! We have one wounded and a whole team of mavericks on our tail! Please respond!"

_"Cross?!?"_ A man's voice ran over Cyphrus's ear.

"Yes! It's Cyphrus, send support! Mavericks are closing in our position!"

_"Yes sir, I'll send a battalion your way!"_

"Double time!"

"I see a clearing!" Ash yelled.

"No! Wait!" Cyphrus couldn't stop him. He turned around a activated the MTES and locked on to 8 mavericks. The crosshairs all turned red, showing that he was locked on.

'Model C!' Cyphrus thought as the mavericks closed in, their jet packs bringing them closer and closer.

_"I'm on it!"_ Cyphrus felt his arm raise by an invisible force, blasts from his gun hitting every locked on maverick. With trailing smoke and an explosion, the eight mavericks fell to the grass.

_'Eight down, sixteen to go...'_ Cyphrus tried to catch up with Ash, running to the light. When he caught up with him, they were out of the forest and in a large grassfield.

_'Ah hell! why did we come out here!?!'_ The three were now open to the mavericks' sights, their plasma guns firing toward Ash. He dropped Lily, tackling Ash to the ground, dodging the plasma bullets. Lily crawled to the two, her gun still on her shoulder. She took it out and aimed it to the nearest maverick, firing at it. The maverick's arm was caused to twitch from the impacted bullet from her gun. A plasma blast barely missed her. Lily crawled her way to Cyphrus, but he already got up with Ash. Ash fired at the maverick that Lily previously shot at, following its flight pattern and hitting it with almost every bullet. He eventually hit the propullsion tank and sent the maverick spiralling towards the ground in a ball of flame.

Ash cheered, but hit the ground when another maverick swooped in. Before it started to open up, Lily pulled out her magnim and shot a hole right through the red lens. It fell to the ground, next to Cyphrus, who was kneeling and readying his gun for the next target. But before he could do anything else, a barrage of bullets hit most of the mavericks, disabling them. From the other side of the large plains, there were three fast moving APCs in a V formation. The .50 caliber machine guns mounted on the top tre through the enemy, and drove closer to the three. The mavericks stopped focusing on the Aeons and fled the combat zone. The gunners cheered, giving shouts of triumph.

"Yeah! You see that shit?!?" One gunner completely donned in Aeon armor shouted. Ash helped Cyphrus carry Lily to a group of soldiers that flowed out of the back of APCs. The two handed lily to the soldiers who rushed her into the left APC. The soldiers went back, hurrying Ash and Cyphrus into the same APC.

"Thank God," Ash sighed as he sat between two soldiers. His vision faded as everything turned black...

* * *

**OUTSKIRTS OF TIENDE  
AEON BASE #22 0830**

"She should be back into combat in about a week. It's a miracle you got here on time with those helicopters and tanks on your behind." Cyphrus just nodded, standing next to a doctor out of a closed room with a medical cross on the doors. Ash stood next to them both. He thought of how in the world he slept through losing one APC and running and gunning their way through a bunch of tanks and helicopters. His clothes were grass/dirt stained, his hair messy, and his backpack barely hanging off of his back by a thread. However, his eyes held on to that same life filled look.

"Ash, follow us. Maybe we can get you some new clothes," Cyphrus motioned his head to follow the doctor, who walked down the hallways that were filled with injured soldiers. Some had lost eyes, others have lost limbs, and others got off with just flesh wounds. He felt sick when he looked at them, is he gonna end up like them? What about-

"Ash. Here." Ash didn't even notice walking through a hallway into a small room. Cyphrus threw a plain white T-shirt, green cargos, and plain boxers.

"Change and stay here, I need to get prosthetic skin on my right arm," Cyphrus shut the door. The room was blank, the only thing that was in there were boxes of ammunition. He stripped down, putting the new clothes on. He took his old clothes and shoved them into his backpack, careful not to crush...

Ash pulled the roll of paper. He unrolled it, staring at the drawing. He even remembered the kiss on his cheek, he just wanted to squeeze her and kiss her on the lips. He sighed and put the roll back.

* * *

**The Next two days... 0500**

Ash and Cyphrus walked down the hallway, Cyphrus in a dark crimson uniform and a black beret while Ash had a black button down shirt with black cargos. They reached the room where Lily was staying in, knocking on the medical doors. Lily opened the door, wearing the same uniform as Cyphrus with a crutch on her left leg. Her blue hair flowed down the uniform. She would've had looked beautiful if it wasn;t for the grim look on her face.

"It's time." Lily nodded at Cyphrus's remark. In his hands was a jar filled with ash. the three slowly walked down the hallways to get to the entrance. Ash earned a few strange glances, but ignored them. They walked out of the reinforced doors to see a helicopter, it's blades noisily chopping at the air. They walked to the open side doors of the heli. They jumped in, the doors closing. Lily and Cyphrus sat side by side in the six seat area, a large spot in between the three seats on each side. Ash sat across from them, eyes closed. Cyphrus and Lily held hands, Cyphrus's right holding her left.

* * *

"... Not only was he a soldier that died for a noble cause, he was a Wardog. More importantly, a brother to the entire 1st division. It's been an honor and privaledge to serve, suffer, and fight with him. God bless him." Cyphrus stood on the podium, his eyes closed. Not wanting to see the beautiful lake and the mountain, it didn't suit the situation. He hid his crimson eyes with his berret. The crowd standing in front of him was a sea of red and black, wearing the same uniform and berret that Cyphrus wore. Cyphrus opened his eyes and raised his head to show his crimson eyes. He stared at his fellow comrades in the most elite youth division.

"WARDOGS!" Cyphrus almost broke his voice when he shouted. The sea of red all raised their fists.

"WARDOGS! OORAH! OORAH!" A legion of voices literally shook the ground. Cyphrus finally stepped down in silence. Standing next to Lily on his right and Ash on his left, Cyphrus lowered his berret even further. Lily buried her head into his shoulder.

"PRESENT ARMS!" A row of soldiers, all youth soldiers dressed in blue uniforms cradled their assault rifles.

"AIM!" They aimed. "FIRE!" They fired. The crack of rifles filled the area. The bullets flying over the nearby lake into the sky. Cyphrus and Lily both stood next to the edge of the lake with Shawn's ashes, pouring them over the lake. The wind blew the ash over the clean body of water, dissapearing. Taps played, salutes were thrown, and tears fell. Ash could only cry and hold a flimsy salute.

* * *

In time, people started to leave. Cyphrus and the other two were all that were left, staring out into the lake.

"Ash. Lily. Let's go. Start walking toward the armored car. It's gonna rain.'

"It's no-" Ash was cut off, looking at the cloudless sky. Lily put an arm on his shoulder, giving Ash a sad look. Both looked at Cyphrus, walking a step back. They watched the tears streak down each cheek. Ash kept walking, but Lily walked back. squeezing Cyphrus. Her hea don his neck. Cyphrus hugged back, gritting his teeth.

"I couldn't save him,_ I couldn't save him!_..." Cyphrus said softly, filled with pain and grief. He wept.

Ash could only turn away and walk. Guilt filled his heart. The couple held each other, silently mourning.

* * *

At the end of this chapter, I want you guys to listen to a song. Ash Like Snow by The Brilliant Green. It's been in my head... Oh, and check out Craft if you're confused, got pictures set up in the media section.


	4. Boot Camp!

Whoo… Let's go, alright. Have fun with this fic!

* * *

"Ash Ketchum, Blood Type A, 13 years (eligible for combat duties), 120 pounds, 5'4". Black hair, black eyes."

The recruiter stated as he typed them all on a touch keyboard onto a computer. He looked up at the boy, who looks as if he just got a haircut. Ash did get his hair cut short, his hair was however, still spiked up. His hair was short enough so that it wouldn't get in his eyes and above his eyebrows. He wore a black T shirt and jeans.

"Alright, any phobias?" The recruiter was a man in his thirties; buzz cut and looked held a mug of coffee near him. He looked Ash up and down with his green eyes.

"Not that I know of…" Ash scratched the back of his head. He looked around to see only a couple of other people in the building. He was down south in Aeonia, Raptor training base, in a safe place where any Neo forces couldn't reach him. The building was large; it looked like a school or equivalent to a size of a county jail.

"Good. Don't want any pussies at a time like this. Go to room A." Ash walked toward the far room on the left side of the desk. He stood in front of it briefly before the door slides open. The door led to a dim briefing room, where some other people other than Ash were sitting down on seats that would appear in a movie theatre. They were chatting while waiting for some show to happen on the wall. On the wall was a projected insignia, two golden rifles in an 'X' and a golden Alpha greek letter that stood for Aeonia in the background. Ash took a seat in the back row, where a lot of the soldiers were sitting.

"Hey, who're you?" A kid asked Ash as he sat down. He looked fifteen.

"My name's Ash," Ash turned to the kid. He had brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a jumpsuit, a white T shirt, and a pair of jeans.

"You from here?"

"Well, I'm from the East. I snuck into here. The Aeonian government shouldn't care… right?" Ash asked. He faked the words. Cyphrus told him to use those words when people asked. Cyphrus sent him here, remembering that in order to get into the youth division, time in the original armed forces was necessary.

"Haha, not if you get caught my friend. My name is Dimitri Rostovik."

"Alright, nice to meet you Dimitri," Ash smiled. Dimitri chuckled.

"I guess what they say is true, they're all polite. Nice to meet you too." Dimitri lay back onto his chair.

"Ash eh? That's a strange name for an Easterner." A man, in his twenties, just walked in and sat next to Ash.

"My name is Domingo Sanchez. Just call me Sanchez." He had a darker skin color that Dimitri and Ash, having a black buzz cut and light brown eyes. He wore a gray T shirt with green cargo pants.

"What are you guys in the war for?"

"School man. Screwed up my grades. If I survive this war, I might come back and get a better job or something," Dimitri shrugged.

"I know the things we learned; it's just that school's boring. I never get to use the stuff we learn." Dimitri sighed. "Besides. My parents are being assholes about it too. I ran away."

"That's seems to be the case with a lot of the youth soldiers. The Aeonian government doesn't care about that, we need more soldiers. Your parents can only get you back before you enlist," Sanchez remarked. "I don't know why I'm here. Normally, I would be programming devices, but hey. I ended up here."

"Yeah, I was wondering. A lot of the Aeonians don't want to fight anymore. But most of us are just pissed off at the Neolians for blowin up that city. My cousin died over there." Dimitri clenched his fist.

"Oy Ash, what are you in here for?" Sanchez asked.

"I'm pretty angry about the Neolians too. Everybody knew they blew both of those cities," Ash stated. Cyphrus filled him in about everything that happened…

"Yeah, damn Neolians. I can't believe that we used to be one big Aeolia."

"Politics," Sanchez retched. "Hate politics. I'm just here to do my job."

"Hey! Shut up! Show's starting!" Some guy in the front shouted to the back where the three sat.

"Prick," Sanchez muttered. Dimitri and Ash chuckled. The youth and the adults get along really well here…

"Welcome to the Marines. You will soon be-" Ash just sat and watched the presentation, it was really cool for him since the video looked so high definition and sounded so real compared to what he saw at home. Dimitri yawned, and Sanchez just sat straight. Ash was glad that he had two friends already. Never did he know that those two guys would be good friends during his time in the Marines.

* * *

"HUT TWO THREE FOUR! COME ON YOU MAGGOTS! I WANT TO SEE MORE SWEAT! RUN FASTER!" Ash was at the middle of the group of soldiers that were running through a large trench at six in the morning. They were all dressed in white T shirts and dirty green cargo pants.

It's been a week. All of them had buzz cuts; Ash was mortified for a few hours before getting over it. Their medicals, their IDs injected in their left arms, their dogtags, everything got taken care of. Their civilian clothes, cellular devices, their money, everything was stripped from them. The sergeant didn't want to promote theft, that's why they emptied their wallets. They learned to put a bed perfectly together, how to march, how to get ready within fifteen minutes, how they had to eat everything they had on their trays. The most important thing they learned, every wrong thing you do in the drill sergeant's eyes, there's a consequence. In the military, it's not like a normal life. You get less sleep as well. You do as you're told and keep your counsel. There's a reason to everything, even the most ridiculous things.

They used their boots to tear up the dirt that they were running on. Ash didn't have a problem speeding up; his endurance was the best out of the whole boot camp. Being a pokemon trainer really paid off. He missed his team, which he left back at-

"YOU CALL THAT FASTER? DOUBLE TIME! MOVE MOVE MOVE!" The drill sergeant was barking orders while he ran with them. His face was beet red while he roared. Ash, Dimitri, and Sanchez were in the boot camp for a week now. They were getting sore from all of the intense training.

"NONE OF YOU STOP OR ELSE YOU'RE RUNNING THE WHOLE FUCKING 5 MILE TRENCH AGAIN!" Ash felt a pang of guilt when Dimitri all of a sudden stopped from stepping in a pothole on the first day. They were half a mile away from finishing, and Dimitri had to carry the DI, or drill sergeant, for the rest of the way without stopping unless he wanted to run the whole thing again.

By the time they stopped at the end of a trench, everybody was doubled over and panting.

"Look alive!! Regularly, I would take a rifle and shoot the fuck out of you shitheads who're too slow, but I gotta train you for the next five weeks. You've only gone through week one and look at you maggots!" The group of soldiers were panting hard, every one of them were tired out. They all managed to stand straight at attention in a matter of seconds.

"Now get. On to breakfast!" The good thing about drilling, marching, and running five miles is that a good breakfast was at the end of it. The drill sergeant went to his own quarters while the group of pre-soldiers walked over to the mess hall.

"Jesus H. Christ, my legs are so sore," A boy stated when the drill sergeant was out of hearing distance.

"Aw quit whining you sissy! We've been through the same crap you've been through, suck it up!" Dimitri barked while he limped towards the mess hall. Ash was the best runner in the whole group.

Meals were a real treat; the food was simply amazing for Ash. Toast, pancakes, eggs, sausage, fries, anything decent for a good breakfast. They could get whatever they wanted, but they had to eat everything they had on their trays. Everything. One time when Ash was going out to clean out his tray, he still had a small section of scrambled eggs left. One of the mess hall marines caught Ash, ordering him to eat the eggs up, doggy style. Ash got the nickname Ketchup, for accidentally exploding a catsup packet onto a mess hall marine the next day. He got a wind knocking punch in the gut after a couple of laughs.

The first two weeks were all about discipline. Everybody caught on. They were given kitchen duties, mess hall duties, and cleaning duties. Sanchez had to wash a toilet with a toothbrush before when he didn't do quartermasters straight. The third week was all about getting in shape. There was intense training, drills, obstacle courses, anything to build endurance and tolerance to pain.

During the three weeks, everybody hated the drill sergeants, except for this one really nice guy named Rick Daniels. He was a good guy; nobody knew why he was in the military. He was athletic and was one of the excelling guys in the camp. This was proved from standing for a whole day in the sun with no water, no food. He lasted from noon till he passed out, and that was when everybody was sleeping.

Week four was when things got more like the Marines.

"Hey, the AF-34 carbine's a sweet gun," Dimitri swung his gun left and right.

"You're not even holding it right you idiot," Ash joked around. Their rifles were standard issued semi automatic carbines. They didn't receive the AF-31 assault rifles yet. They knew the gun inside out. They had to learn how to assemble and disassemble the gun right when they received them. They knew how the magazine works (it held 18 rounds), the firing mechanism, what to do when it jams, and how to clean it. The gun was full metal and gray with an iron sight for now. The Drill Instructors expected the gun to be spotless. Drop the carbine; you had to sleep with it for a week. They ran with the heavy carbine every morning.

They didn't start the week off with shooting right away.

"I love kitchen duty," Sanchez laughed. Ash could tell he was pissed on the inside how he scrubbed the floor.

The third day of the week, they learned how to shoot the carbine from different positions, how to adjust sights for wind, and how to snap on and use a bayonet. They learned how and when to parry, when to strike, and where to stab.

"Parry left!... Parry right!... Lunge! Thrust! Jab!" Those were the words of the DIs as they told the guys where to hit. The targets were ballistic jelly targets. Ash hoped to never to use the bayonet in his time serving in the marines after seeing what bayonets could do to a human. All sort of weapons were introduced with many attachments, but only the ones that they were guaranteed to use. The more advanced weapons were most likely given to the Special Forces or the Youth Elite.

They were told about the AF series: the assault rifle, the machine guns, and the B-11, G-12, and the G-13. The B-11 was a shotgun that could switch from pump to auto. It could literally tear anybody to shreds. The G-12 was a semi automatic sniper rifle used to take out enemy personnel. The G-13 was a .50 caliber sniper used for armored vehicles as well as Mavericks. Only soldiers with the "expert" title could use the sniper weapons and/or be in a sniper team.

When the pre-soldiers went into the shooting range, they set up targets from 50 meters to 700 meters. Sanchez and Dimitri got a sharpshooter ranking, letting them use the heavy machinegun and below. Ash was the only person to gain the expert title. Ash found it so easy; it was just like a good tool to him. He surprised himself more than he surprised others.

The others were all for the war. Ash was first against it, but then shifted toward for it. Listening to the others and the stories they tell, Ash just shakes his head in disbelief and anger.

The last weeks were all about improving aim, hand to hand combat, and learning about the enemy. They learned all about the Neos, their weapons, tactics, and most importantly, the Mavericks.

The Mavericks were a certain force that agreed in helping the Neos in annihilating the Aeon forces. Nobody knows about them, nobody even knows the leader. All the captured Neo POW don't even have a clue. The mavericks were the Supersoldiers, the worst enemy that a soldier will face in the war. They brought new weapons technology with them, sharing it with the Neos. Only from captured weaponry, the Aeon forces made their own weapons from it. Not a single maverick was captured; they all had a mechanism where if the maverick was at a certain level of damage, it would shut down then self destruct. EMP grenades only knocked them out for thirty seconds before reactivating. That was learned the hard way as a group of engineers was killed trying to capture one.

The soldier type mavericks were called Galleons. They were all given different jobs. Hunters were the normal type of Galleons. They were equipped with a plasma weapon on their arm. Sometimes, they had an orange body instead of a purple or blue body and had wings. The winged Galleons were very effective in boarding and taking out convoys. Assault Galleons had a huge blade that went along their arm, that blade could cut through things as thick as armored vests to light armored vehicles. Normally more aggressive than hunters, they have a surprising attack range. Bazooka Galleons were given the job with the short range rocket launcher that could shoot heat seeking missiles.

Not only were there Galleons, there were more mechanaloids such as the Cannonwalker and the Cavity CW. The Cannonwalker had reversed joints with heat seeking missile launchers and a cannon in between the launchers. It doesn't move fast, its eight foot body however can move in the same speed in any direction. Cavity CWs were guard mechanaloids, using its own energy to produce a laser beam attack. It quickly disappears after that, using a camouflage unit. There were a lot more mechanaloids they learned about.

Ash was the most scared about the camouflage units, they pretty much had a coating of a special material that bends and shapes light to form around it, rendering it invisible. It made him feel better when he was told that the equipment was very expensive and was hard to get and make.

"God, this is like school," Dimitri mumbled while he received paper and an answer sheet when he sat on a high school like desk. The answer sheet had touch capabilities, it amazed Ash.

"This school is going to save your life later, trust me," Sanchez rested his head on a propped up arm. Everybody nodded in agreement. Everybody passed; Dimitri was right on the border of failing the test.

"Rostovik luck my friend," Dimitri laughed. He got a C-. That was the end of the training, and they were on a transport helicopter, the H-55. It was nicknamed the horseshoe for some odd reason. They shook the DIs' hands while they boarded, the hatred to them all of a sudden seemed to fade away. When they looked out of the windows, they stared at the happy lucky guys who just went in the building. All of them shook their heads, wondering how they were like those boys down there. Back up in the Helicopter, they were all Marines.

* * *

It took a day to get to the battle lines near the war torn city of Vom. Dimitri, Ash, and Sanchez were all in the same group. All of them had the rank of Private, sent to sergeant Harper.

"Sir!" The three of them gave the sergeant a salute, the three in a line, dropping their bags, which contained their uniforms. They arrived in battle ready gear.

"Don't salute me, and don't call me sir," The sergeant barked. He then softened up. The three lowered their salutes.

"There are enemy snipers everywhere, even near our camp sometimes. We don't want to get me and you three killed now do you? And besides, Sir is a bit too formal for me. Call me Harper." He was a tall man, a drained look on his face. He had more hair than the three of them combined, which was not a lot in reality. He had blue eyes, like Dimitri. He wore a simple dark green T-shirt with his climate adapting jumpsuit underneath. They were both tucked in, his dark green cargos were torn here and there, his combat boots a bit scratched. His dogtags hung loose around his neck.

"That's a change," Dimitri sighed, slouching. He picked up his bags. Harper chuckled.

"You'll be in that tent over there. Get to know the guys, our group isn't that bad compared to others." He walked away. Ash took a look around this place: they were on the outskirts of the city, which sky scrapers, or remains of sky scrapers, were completely riddled with holes. Smoke rose from the city, slight sounds of gunfire were present. They were on a hill, overlooking the city. Ash was awed; the destruction of a city from war was just devastating. The soldiers back here were in very large tents that held a group of soldiers, it was a temporary base.

"Come on Ketchup, let's go," Dimitri put a hand on his shoulder, dragging him into the tent.

* * *

Wow, big paragraphs… I really need to work on being more descriptive, I found out. Any suggestions sent through reviews would be highly appreciated. Thanks!


	5. Home

CJ: Attention! This is CJ Fang,

Cyphrus: And Cyphrus Cross ,

Both: We have an important message to all of you.

CJ: During the time I thought of writing the story The Neon War, I decided that I send an invitation to anyone who is reading this. **You are invited to participate in the war.**

Cyphrus: All you need to do is put in the following information (With an example), and either put it in a review, put it in a PM, or E mail it to the author. Try to be descriptive:

Name: Cyprhus I. (Ian) Cross

Age: 14

Gender: Male

Blood Type (Optional): Blood Type O

Military (Side, Profession, rank): Aeon Elite Youth. First Division. First Unit (Three people only in first Unit) All Around Soldier. Hand to hand specialist. Lieutenant Colonel. Chosen one of Model C (Chosen ones might possibly be given out… Don't get too excited though!)

Physical Traits (Clothing is optional, however, it might change.): Red hair, crimson eyes, 5'8'' Has a cross shaped scar on his back. Wears a small golden cross with a golden chain around his neck. Usually wears crimson battle vest with black jumpsuit underneath. Black army pants with black boots. Has a fully metal prosthetic left arm with concealed knife contained.

Personality Traits (or Other): Dark past, with the death of every single family member except his sister; which he still needs to find. He stayed at Orphanage with Shawn Bennueto until legible to sign up for the Aeon Army to find his sister.

Loves to smile. Serious in war, willing to die for his friends and loved ones. Prefers to be on the battlefield with his fellow soldiers rather than command out of the battle. Laid back, smart, caring, and romantically involved with Lily Crystaline. Capable of eating a lot. Plays the acoustic guitar, which he learned from his brother. Nicknamed "Big/Lil' Brother" with the rest of the Division.

I give you full permission to do anything with my OC (Death is also a part of this. If you don't want to sign this part, that is fine. But you do have to contact me): Signed Christopher 'CJ' Fang (penname)

Cyphrus: Keep in mind that the more information, the better.

CJ: Although, it would be pretty interesting if I made a past for you…

Cyphrus: Please don't…

CJ: Another thing is that multiple entries are welcome, just make it neat.

Cyphrus: Oh, and we both like interesting characters. Like a penname for a last name for example.

CJ: Also keep in mind that the Aeons aren't the only goodguys. Join me with the Neo military, we have a lot to offer.

Cyphrus: (glares at CJ) No. Join the Aeonian Military!

CJ: Hey, who just got a new Biometal? I did~

Cyphrus: I'm gonna shoot you after this…

CJ: In the following chapter of my story(ies), I will announce all the entries. It might not be at the beginning of the chapter so don't freak out. Also, they also might not be all introduced in one chapter too.

Cyphrus: I hope this works…

CJ: Yeah, same here. This is just a way so that my readers don't get bored and leave.

Cyphrus: Too late for that…

CJ: …Anyway, try to get the entry in as soon as possible. Also, I can't communicate through reviews, or PMs. I'm sort of locked out of my computer so… yeah. E mail me, because I can E mail through my phone. My E mail is located in my profile. If you have a problem with that, then you and I are going to have a trouble communicating.

Both: Till then!

* * *

Well, this is the next chapter. Sorry if this seemed a bit rushed or anything. Enjoy the chapter!

Notes:

"Regular communication"

'_Thoughts'_

* * *

'_That feels good… wait…'_ Chris squinted to see nothing but darkness at first. When he opened his right eye, there was a dim lamppost, the stars shining brighter than he ever has seen before. He felt something run through his hair, fingers. It felt really relaxing, as strange as it seemed. He fully opened both eyes, now smiling at the face that he saw. To see her face, it sunk Chris's heart down to his stomach. Chris was lying down on the bench he slept on, his head now using a girl's lap as a pillow. She looked stunning, a beautiful face with emerald eyes along with the light brown flowing hair that reached down to halfway down her back. She wore a tight fitting white shirt with a dark blue skirt. Her name was Luna.

"You always have the softest hair, you're like a dog," Luna giggled. Her fingers went through Chris's dark brown hair, softly caressing him.

"I love dogs," Chris woofed. He brought his hand to hold the gentle hand that was stroking his head.

"I missed you," Chris sadly smiled, his eyes never leaving Luna's. She also held the same hurt and happy emotion.

"So did I, it's been so long since I've met you," Luna bent over, her breath on Chris's lips.

"It's been a while since we kissed too," Chris brought a hand to cup her chin when he propped up his arm and raised himself to kiss her. While they kissed, they gazed at each other's eyes. Chris staring into the swallowing emerald eyes while Luna stared into the dark soft eyes that showed their true color under the dim light. They both closed their eyes and Luna stroked the side of his head, her fingers running through his hair and giving him a tingling feeling.

When they separated, they both smiled at each other. Chris now reluctantly left Luna's lap and sat up straight, Luna then leaned on him. Chris wrapped his right arm around her when Luna rested her head on his shoulder.

"Your birthday's tomorrow," Luna twisted her neck to see Chris, who chuckled.

"Really? I forgot," Chris used his left hand to scratch his head.

"You're going to be fifteen! You're getting old," Luna laughed. Chris made a pouting face.

"You're young, you're fourteen!"

"Well, you're still fourteen right now!"

"I'm gonna be fifteen in…" Chris paused, a puzzled look on his face.

"How long was I sleeping?"

"A long time, I forgot when I started to pet you!" Luna joked while she laughed at Chris's expression. They both laughed, then looked at the lake. The water was black, but reflected some of the stars and the large bridge that connected the city to the neighboring city. The bridge looked beautiful, how the lights stood out in the darkness of the night.

"You're so lucky you get an apartment looking over this place," Chris pulled Luna tighter.

"I am lucky."

"I'm also lucky I get to share the view with you," They two looked at each other again before kissing briefly.

"Yeah. This was where I asked you out too," Chris proudly smiled.

"Under the tree." The two looked left to see a large tree, some of the branches were low so that some people could climb and sit on it. The leaves were a deep green, big and alive.

"Mmhmm."

"And I remember tripping on that root when I tried to go too," Chris grinned. Luna giggled,

"You looked so cute though!" The two started laughing again. The two entered a moment of silence after the laughter died down, staring at the water and the bridge once more.

"How's being a fighter pilot?" Luna asked, eager to know. Chris grinned,

"It's exactly how I imagined it, if not better. The feeling of flight," Chris's grin left his face. "But then there are the Special Forces."

"So… what's that like?" Luna asked. Chris sighed,

"… It's so depressing to be a soldier," Chris leaned back and looked up at the sky to see a passenger plane fly silently overhead.

"Have you… killed anyone?" Luna asked, looking at Chris. Chris refused to look at her.

"Yes. I've killed so many people…" Chris didn't seem proud of that, he shut his eyes. Luna worriedly looked up at Chris.

"I've killed everybody. Men, women, and people like us Luna… I'm nothing but a murderer, a terrorist, and a killer." Chris opened his eyes, and sure enough; she saw the emptiness, the void in his eyes while he thought of what he was and currently is going through.

"Chris, you're not a murderer or a terrorist. Anyone who stands for a just cause can't possibly be called a terrorist. I know you Chris. I know you went into the military not for your own desires to fly, but you went to protect the ones that are close to you," Luna pulled herself closer to him.

"I'll still love you the same." She watched as the emptiness went away, the liveliness coming back to Chris's eyes. He looked down at his closest friend, his eyes slightly tearing. He turned his head away so that Luna couldn't look, his grip tightening on Luna's shoulder.

"Th-thanks." Chris blinked some of the tears away before turning back to Luna and smiling.

"I knew I picked the right girl to love," Chris said as he faced her and embraced her. Luna returned the hug, who buried her face into the dark blue uniform of her boyfriend.

"I love you so much," Luna's soft voice was almost lost through the muffling from his uniform.

"I love you too," Chris truthfully said, closing his eyes and thanking God that he had her in her arms right now. After they pulled apart, Luna looked at Chris up and down.

"You look so…" Luna put a finger to her lips. "Distinguished." That he was. Four medals, the most current one was from the infiltration mission at the forest of Tiende. Chris bore the rank of major on one shoulder, and a Silver Heart Insignia on the other. His dark blue uniform with the silver lettering made him look a lot more mature.

Chris just laughed at the comment, scratching the back of his head. Luna grinned,

"I like it. It looks good on you," Luna brushed his shoulder.

"So do I, makes me feel more like a pilot." Luna was about to say something, but then Chris's sunglasses vibrated. They were aviators, silver and reflective.

"What's that?" Luna asked, curious. Chris carefully took the sunglasses out of his pocket.

"They're the new cellular devices we have now," Chris said, scoffing.

"I think they're making us wear these old glasses on purpose." Chris put them on. Luna stifled a giggle. From the way Chris was seeing things, they actually did make everything darker, but then a HUD display came online.

**NEO ELITE YOUTH AIR FORCE**

"**HEARTS" 2ND DIVISION**

**VISUAL IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED**

The white lettering stood out against the dark background, and then a small message box popped up.

**Well, this is AWACS Eagle Watch dropping by to tell you to relax, you earned it Wild Fang. Bye the way, make sure you enjoy the break. The Special Forces guys says "not to bring out the metal." Whatever the hell that means, be cautious. We'll be back in about a week, so get everything done that needs to be done. Make sure Wild Dog doesn't go do anything stupid either. Oh, and Happy Birthday Fang.**

**Message received at 12:00 AM**

It humored Chris to see his call sign being used all the time from Eagle Watch. He thought in his mind, the words that he was about to send to AWACS.

**Thanks Eagle Watch, good luck with the boys back at the nest. **

"It's twelve," Chris told Luna as he took off the glasses. Luna tilted her head,

"Wow, we've been here for a while. My dad's going to get angry if I don't get back. Sorry!" Luna said as she stood up. Chris stood up also, standing about three inches taller than Luna.

"You got taller too…" Luna said, stopping to stare at Chris. He laughed, a blush spreading across his face.

"I know, I'm so happy!" He sheepishly smiled. The two started to walk and already crossed the street to a nearby building. It was ten stories, looking over the lake. The lights in the lobby were dim, the elevator was the only thing close to fully lit up.

"Sorry this had to be cut short…" Luna said apologetically, holding her hands below her waist.

"Don't worry about it, we'll meet again this week," Chris said, walking toward Luna. He cupped her chin,

"I love you," he kissed her on the lips. She leaned in, wrapping her arms around his neck. When they separated, she smiled.

"I love you too," She said as she walked inside the building. She eventually left and went inside until they couldn't see each other. Chris sighed, sadly smiling. He walked down the street, passing by lit up stores and buildings. He then felt another rumble in his pocket. He took out and put on the glasses and leaned against a wall, careful not to get his uniform dirty.

**I'm in the next alley. **

– **David**

Chris nodded to himself, walking to the next alley as the message said. The large alley had a car in the middle of it, the door then opened and a boy walked out with a dark blue T shirt, jeans, and a jumpsuit underneath. He had his communicator on his left ear. Chris walked down the alley, closing the distance between the boy and himself.

"How'd it go?" David asked, yawning.

"Great, thanks for the ride," Chris said, opening the door and sitting in the shotgun seat. David sat back down on his own driver's seat.

"I love being sixteen! I don't even need a license since I'm in the military," David cackled. Chris sweatdropped and sighed.

"Just don't go too fa-AST!" Chris was jerked back into the seat when the car sped out of the alley and flew down the road.

* * *

Chris stumbled out of the car, his hair a mess and his uniform a little crooked. He threw his bag out of the car. He grumbled while the car went away, driving out of the neighborhood and out of the area. He looked in front of him as he swung his bag over his shoulder; a nice two story house stood him front of him. It had white paint; the structure was old for the twenty fourth century. Instead of walking up the steps to the porch and going through the front door, he jumped on the solid railing that led to the stairs. He then jumped up to the rooftop, right at a window.

The window was blocked by dark curtains, but he could tell that the lights were still on. He knocked two short knocks, one long knock and two short knocks. The curtains immediately swung open, a boy that looked a lot like Chris. The two smiled, then the boy pushed a button and the window slid up.

"Chris!" The boy exclaimed, he was in a white T shirt and plain gray sleeping pants. Chris tightly fit through the window and shoved his bags through the space.

"Jay, what's going on buddy?" Chris hugged the boy, Jay. Jay smiled,

"You're back!" Jay let go of Chris.

"Still having sleeping problems I see…" Chris looked around the small room. It had plain white walls with plain white carpet. The room had a single lamp that lit up the room and a couple furniture including a bed, a desk, and a couple of book holders.

"Well, yeah duh. You sleep like a rock!" Jay said, scoffing and crossing his arms. Chris sheepishly smiled,

"Sometimes it could be a good thing," Chris laughed. Jay didn't laugh, however. He had a serious face on.

"Does Mom know you're here?" Jay said, a bit worried. Chris's smile disappeared. He brushed off his shoulders and arms.

"I'm going to tell her now. I'll be back." Chris walked till he pressed something on a touch screen on the wall. The door slid open, and then closed when Chris walked out with his bags. He threw them against the bottom of a door at the end of the hallway. He was nervous, his mother was probably downstairs. He walked down the white painted hallway, past his own room and a couple other rooms. He then was greeted the stairs with a slap on the railing, walking down the flight of stairs to the living room.

The living room was also connected to the kitchen, and a woman, forty years of age, was sitting on a chair reading a book that was plopped open on the nice wood round table.

"What is it now Jay?" The woman turned around, gasping at the sight of the boy that stood in front of her.

"Hi mom," Chris gulped. He stood straight, his medal shining brightly from the light that came from a hole in the ceiling.

"You could have at least come through the front door." The woman stood up, crossing her arms.

"Good to see you too…" Chris sighed.

"How could you do this to us? You were gone for a year and now you come back all of a sudden?!? You should be ashamed of yourself, asking your uncle to sign you up for the Neolian Military!"

"How could you lock me up here with no life anyway?!? Why do you think I left you?!?" Chris growled. He balled his fists.

"Do you think I kept you in this house for a reason? You had to get your grades up!! And look at you now; you blew it all for a military career!" The woman screamed, her arms now at her sides.

"I actually can say that I love my job! I love being a fighter pilot, which you doubted that I could be!" Chris pointed a finger at himself, emphasizing the part about becoming a pilot.

"A job that could get you killed!"

"Who gives a shit when I enjoy my job unlike you?!?!?!" Chris roared.

"Don't you dare swear at me in this household!! I thought that the military was supposed to make you more disciplined, not more like a rat!" Chris's mother spat.

"Listen to yourself! This is why I left you!"

"Explain that to Jay! Now he's all depressed because you left!"

"He's depressed because you put more pressure on him now! Just because I left doesn't mean you get to completely smother him in studying!"

"What are you talking about?!?"

"I've seen all those workbooks on his desk!"

"Those were your books, he wanted them! He now wants to be a soldier because of you, what kind of role model are you?!?" Chris's mom flailed her arms in the air.

"A good one, better than you!" Chris shoved the finger to his mother. A moment of bitter silence filled the living room. The two glared at each other.

"I'm glad I left," Chris said, turning around to storm back up the stairs. Chris's mother put a hand on her head, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"At least you didn't get killed before your birthday…" Chris's mother said with a monotone voice. Chris momentarily paused before stepping back up the stairs. Jay was waiting for him at the end of the stairs.

"Are you going to stay?" Jay said, his eyes brimmed with tears that he tried to hold in. Chris ruffled his hair.

"That's not for me to decide…" Chris avoided looking at him, walking down the hallway and going to the last room at the end of the hallway. He put a hand on a touch screen on the wall next to the door, which slid open after the screen turned from red to blue. He walked in with the bags he threw at the bottom at the door before, and waited until the door slid back. His hand brushed over another screen next to the door from the inside, locking it.

He looked back at his own room, neat and tidy. His bed was made, his desk was organized, and the light just turned on as he touched the switch. He sat down on the white sheets of his bed, burying his face in his hands while his elbows rested against his knees.

'_God, why do things have to be like this…'_ Chris then raised his head and sighed. He knew his mother loved him, and he loved her. But the thing was that they fought constantly. Besides, it's best off if he doesn't get too close to her now. He then heard a rumble from his desk. The moonlight from the clear window shone on a cellular device that he left when he enlisted. He stood up to go and pick up the solar powered device. He pressed a button, and a large projecting screen popped up from the device.

**YOU HAVE **

**1 NEW MESSAGE**

'_Who could this be…'_ He brushed his finger over the blue touch screen, touching the button that said: OPEN.

Chris read the text, his eyes closing. He sighed once more, setting the device back on his desk.

**Sorry for the abrupt departure… I really wanted to be with you more tonight. Do you think we can meet tomorrow? Because that would be so nice. I miss you so much right now, I just want to come over and hug you again. It's okay if you don't message me today because I'm going to sleep. Goodnight, I love you Chris.**

**From: Luna**

Chris pulled the chair out from his desk. He sat down, staring at the Cell and reading the message over and over again. He then picked up the phone.

**Hey Luna, I think I'll be able to. I need to get back out of this house anyway. We'll meet at the same place. Goodnight to you too, I love you till it hurts**

**SENDING**

**MESSAGE SENT**

Chris then set the Cell back down. He stripped down his uniform, putting both his top and bottom on hangers in his closet, which was still occupied with civilian clothes. He got out a white T-shirt with plain white sleeping pants. He slipped them on and put a finger on a button that opened up the window. The wind rushed in, the breeze moving through his hair. The feeling reminded him of Luna once more, making him close his eyes. He reopened them to see a full moon. The only thing that he saw besides the full moon was a couple blacked out houses.

'_Dear God, just give me the strength to carry on through all the crap I face. And provide me with rest before I go back as a soldier of Neolia. Thank you for Luna though, I truly do love her. Thank you for everything, even my troubles. Cause I know they're only to make me stronger… In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.'_ He prayed while he sat on a window sill, staring at the moon and the stars.

* * *

This was a short chapter, so yeah... Review, and don't forget about the invitation!


	6. Deployment

Whoo! Alright, let me just say this, this chapter was a fun chapter… Before I go on, there are a ton of new weapons that are going to be introduced, and the descriptions of each gun is going to be at the bottom of the chapter. I'm going to try to post it up on my Profile too, so yeah. Anyway… have fun with this chapter! And thanks to all who submitted an OC. It's actually not too late to submit an OC at this time, so go for it! The guidelines should be on the chapter before this, I think. Also, sorry for not posting this up sooner. It's hard to sneak on to a locked computer, I'm not gonna lie. Gosh, it's been so long; it's Christmas! Yeesh… too bad I can't work on a Christmas project, no time. I guess this'll have to suffice as a small gift from me. Again, thanks to the people who submitted an OC, and well, merry Christmas!

Notes:

"Regular Communication"

"_Communication Line"_

'_Thoughts'_

######

"_Praise be to the Lord my Rock,_

_who trains my hands for war, _

_my fingers for battle."_

_-Quoted from King David. Psalms 144:1 (NIV)_

######

"Ow! Hey!"

Ash felt a little uneasy as he was dragged into the dim inside of the camouflaged green tent. He looked in to see a large light on the top of the tent, easily collapsible. It was bright, illuminating parts of the darkened tent inside. There was a large amount of sturdy steel bunks and a couple of tables that could be set up and taken down fast. On those tables were weapons, cards, letters, and a mess of everything. A group of soldiers was situated in that tent; all of them looked like they were fresh from the training camp. A couple soldiers were sleeping, some were playing cards, and some were cleaning their rifles.

"Quite the place huh?" Dimitri said as he let go of Ash's dark green uniform. A few soldiers turned at the voice, welcoming him.

"More of em? Now? I thought that the civies didn't want war…" A woman said as she fit her golden hair in a helmet.

"Not for us," Sanchez said, setting his bags down near three empty bunks. Ash and Dimitri did the same.

"Welcome to hell," A soldier said, grinning while he chewed his gum.

"Aw shut up about hell man, its hell listening to you. Why can't we ever talk about heaven?" A soldier stated while he lay down on a bunk.

"Oy, gunnery sergeant's here," a man walked into the room. Everybody stopped what they were doing and got back and stood at attention, even if some were in their underwear and sleeping. He took out a communication device that fit on his left ear, flipping a transparent green slide over his left eye. Information streamed into the communication device.

"Name's Dean Coles. Alright, this isn't a singing audition so make it quick. Give me your rank and your full name. Pierce!"

"Lance Corporal Walter Pierce sir!" (Age 29, Male. Brown hair, brown eyes, 6 feet 2 inches)

"Gibbons!"

"Private Eddie Gibbons Sir!" (Age 17, Male. The boy with the chewing gum. Brown hair, green eyes, 5 feet 8 inches.)

"Myers!"

"Corporal Robin Myers Sir!" (Age 25, Female. Blonde, blue eyes, 5 feet 5 inches)

"Sessions!"

"Sergeant Charlie Sessions Sir!" (Age 35 Male. Black hair, black eyes, dark skin, 6 feet.)

"Victor!"

"Private George Victor sir." (Age 32 Male. Dark green hair, brown eyes, 5 feet 11 inches.)

"Greene!"

"Corporal Jonsey Greene Sir!" (Age 21 Male. Dark blue hair, dark blue eyes. 6 feet)

"Harper," Coles calmly said, rolling his eyes a little.

"Sergeant Jacob Harper sir," He walked in, a glass of water in his hands. (Dark blue eyes, Blonde hair. 5 feet 10 inches.)

"Sanchez!"

"Private Domingo Sanchez sir!" (Age 24 Male. Tan skin, Brown eyes, Brown hair. 6 feet 2 inches)

"Rostovik!"

"Private Dimitri Rostovik sir!" (Age 15 Male. Brown hair, blue eyes. 5 feet 6 inches)

"What the hell…" Coles muttered under his breath. "Ketchum!"

"Private Ash Ketchum sir!" (Age 13 Male. Black hair, black eyes. 5 feet 4 inches.)

"You going to catch me a girl boy?" Coles chuckled with his deep voice.

"I'll try to sir!" Ash smartly answered back. The gunnery sergeant laughed.

"Good boy. Alright, listen up. All of you are going into Vom, don't expect anything nice over there. You'll all be over there on the front lines, we're going to finally take back the city. Two Elite Youth Divisions also have been deployed here. Ferret Division and Raptor Division," the gunnery sergeant flipped the slide back into his communicator.

"Ferret Division?" Eddie scoffed. He scratched his head.

"Sabotage, Spying, and blowing the shit out of stuff. Mess around with them ferrets, you're gonna end up blown into pieces," George stated. Eddie rolled his eyes.

"Right Vic, you would know that huh?" Jonsey joked around. He earned a punch on the arm from Vic.

"We'll load up and fly out to the battle grounds in an hour. Be ready," Coles then walked out of the tent.

"Ketchum?" Greene asked the boy, he scoffed.

"Yeah, just call him Ketchup," Dimitri answered for Ash, who just shut his mouth.

"Ketchup, ha." Greene turned around and suited up.

Everybody suited up for combat. They wore green colored armor that was semi-bulletproof and strong enough to protect the body from some shrapnel, but still penetrable to most bullets. They were in armor that was reinforced in the torso with Ceratanium, a strong metal used for protection. The armor was partially resistant to some bullets, but weak enough to be penetrable. They all had green helmets with communication devices and small green HUD slides that popped from the side of their helmets. The helmets were round and came down to the ears at the sides. It also protected the temple. The helmet comfortably fitted every soldier, one size that fit all.

The armor was light; it consisted of a reinforced green vest, a neck guard, a groin guard, magazine packs that fit on the vests, shoulder guards, arm guards, fore-arm guards, gloves, shin guards, thy guards, and steel toed boots. All of the armor besides the armor was a darker green. The knees and elbows were armored for close quarter reasons. Under all the armor was a body temperature controlling black jumpsuit.

"All right, I'm ready to go. We're gonna head to the armory to grab some weapons and assign weapons there also. Let's go," Sergeant Harper told the others, who just finished gearing up. They all went as a group out of the tent. They were met with the sunlight of the morning, along with clear blue skies.

**10:00 AM**

During their five minute trip to the Armory, they watched in horror at all the casualties that were present at the small open-air medical center. The soldiers had major burns from the plasma shots, limbs were missing, wounds were all over their bodies, and the view was just sickening to watch. Most of them looked on to study the casualties, but Ash turned around with shivers after they passed a man who was groaning with a piece of armor welded into his stomach from a plasma shot.

"I'm gonna be sick…"

"Jesus, how many prosthetics are we going to have to make for those guys?" Eddie asked while he widened his eyes. Charlie shook his head.

"Not enough," Harper looked on. They reached the armory, a green building that was big enough to fit hundreds of guns and ammunition. Harper slid the large reinforced door open, and the group walked in to marvel at the guns on the walls.

"Pierce, Gibbons, Rostovik, and Vic will get the AF-31s (Assault Rifles). Myers and I will get the AF-34s (Carbines). Sanchez, grab the AF-33s (Medium-Light Machine Guns). Two if you can. Greene and Ketchum, you guys get the snipers. Jonsey, get the G-13 (.50 Caliber) and give Ketchup the G-12 (.30 Caliber). Get to it." Ash and Jonsey reached the sniper section, and Jonsey grabbed the long barreled, strong powered .50 caliber sniper. He slung the thing on his back while he reached for the anti-personnel .30 caliber sniper, which was more slender and smaller barreled. Jonsey laughed while he turned around to smile at Ash while he handed him his sniper.

"Nice to meet you sniper buddy," Jonsey pat his shoulder. Ash smiled,

"Nice to meet you too."

"We'll watch each other's backs alright?" Jonsey patted Ash's right shoulder, the one that had the rifle sling on it. Ash nodded.

"Hey, don't worry about what you saw back there, Cause I'm gonna make sure that doesn't happen to ya. Same with Harper. I've spent time with Harper, it might not look like it now, but he's a strong fighter with a ton of will for the safety of his buddies. You just gotta help and join in with the helping, we can't watch _everybody's_ backs at once ya know." Ash nodded again.

"You'll get out of this alive, Lieutenant Colonel Cross even told me himself to keep you alive," Ash surprisingly turned around to Jonsey.

"You mean-"

"Yep. Harper knows, Charlie knows, Robin knows, and Pierce knows too. But don't you go and start telling other people who you are, then things'll get ugly," Jonsey patted his younger and smaller friend in the shoulder one last time before walking back with his fellow soldiers, who had their main weapons. Ash stood next to Jonsey while they stood in a line near the wall. Harper and Charlie stood next to each other while they faced the rest of the group. Ash took a long time to study each of the guns that they all held. They were all black, except for some of the lettering of the safety and the firing mode captions.

"Alright, we'll head to the side arms and the ammunition crates. After that, we fly to combat. Capicse?" Everybody Capicsed to Sergeant Harper and they moved to the back. On their way, they saw the more advanced weapons.

"Woah, how come we don't have these?!?" Eddie remarked while walked on the side of an island table that held more advanced weapons.

"Cause they're for us buddy." The whole group turned around, including Harper. What they turned to see was a tall boy. The boy smirked,

"No touch. This is now Ferret and Raptor property buddy."

######

Name: Ryan James Creyo.  
Age: 17  
Gender: Male  
Blood Type: AB positive  
Military: Aeon Elite Youth. Ferret (13th Division) 2nd Unit. Demolitions and heavy weapons specialist. Captain.  
Height: 6 Ft. 2 In.  
Hair Color: Raven-black  
Eye Color: Blue eyes

######

The boy stood four inches taller than Eddie, and looked intimidating with the barb like stud on his right ear with tattoos on his arms, shown from the black body armor that stopped halfway down his upper arms. The tattoos were snakes, a red one running down his left arm and a blue one running down his right. His black cargo pants matched with his black boots and his body armor. He had a large ammunition belt across his body for the AF-33 that hung loosely in his right hand. The body armor he wore held a variety of grenades, combat knives, and explosive packages. Two knives were on his vest, the knives hung upside down on both sides of his torso. Another knife was hanging on the belt he wore on his cargo pants at his right hand, and the last knife was on his leg next to his boot. A couple of grenades were fit into his vest to make sure that everything was secured.

"Why use the AF-33?" Eddie asked with attitude. Ryan moved in closer glaring at Eddie with his freezing blue eyes,

"Cause plasma, lasers, and beams are for pussies. My unit uses bullets, frags, and knives. Got a problem with that? Private?" Ryan pretty much spat the last word at Eddie, who backed up. He finally noticed the rank insignia on the shoulder of his body armor.

"N-no sir," Eddie stammered.

"Hey, relax man. We're on the same side here," Another boy came from behind him.

######

Name: Luke "Scout" Flak  
Age: 15  
Gender: Male  
Blood Type: B negative  
Military: Aeon Elite Youth. Raptor (7th Division) 1st Unit. (6 man team, nicknamed 'Endgame'), group leader. Scouting, close to mid range soldier (better suited to stealth than direct contact), Environmentalist. Captain.  
Height: 5 Ft. 3 In.  
Hair Color: Brown  
Eye Color: Not determined: Green/Blue/Violet (variable to color change)

######

"Just trying to whip this kid into shape," Ryan smirked evilly. Scout just shook his head and grabbed an A-1, a Laser Assault Rifle.

"Have fun, I'm just here to arm my unit." A girl popped next to him giving Ryan a weird look before standing next to Scout. She had a camera in one of the pouches that she had in her dark gray armor that the Raptor Division wore.

"What's going on?"

######

Name: Skye J. Tyranth  
Age: 14  
Gender: Female  
Blood Type: AB negative  
Military: Aeon Elite Youth. Seventh Division, First unit. Field Medic. Tactician. Camerawoman. Second Lieutenant.  
Height: 4 Ft. 9 In.  
Hair Color: Brown  
Eye Color: Blue

######

"Nothin Skye. Just small talk." Ryan's smirk disappeared with a look of annoyance.

"Whatever shorties," Ryan got what he needed and walked out of the armory. On his way, he ironically bumped into another boy his size.

"Watch it!" Ryan burst out without thinking. He earned a dark glare from the strange colored eyes of the boy he bumped into.

######

Name: Kurois "Darkblur" Pyros (Kuroas Pieris)  
Age: 16  
Gender: Male  
Blood Type: O  
Military: Aeon Elite Youth. Raptor (7th) Division. First Unit. Well rounded soldier, Close quarters combat specialist, disarming specialist. 1st Lieutenant.  
Height: 6 Ft. 2 In.  
Hair Color: Black  
Eye Color: Gold

#####

The last thing Ryan saw before walking out with a grunt was the burnt gold eyes that could burn a hole right through his own blue eyes.

"Just let it go Kurois, he doesn't mean any harm," Scout said as the six man group moved up towards the end of the hallway.

"You think I don't know that?" Kurois just moved on with the group. He grabbed an A-1 on his way. He walked around the marines that Ash was with, and he managed to make eye contact with Ash for a couple seconds. Ash didn't what it was, but it was a strange feeling that he felt when he looked into the gold eyes of his. They reminded him of Latias, but they were different… There was something bothering him…

The golden eyes just blinked and moved on forward. Ash blinked also, but returned his concentration to the sergeants in front of him.

"Man, everybody's got the eye," Eddie shrugged.

"Alright. We're gonna pick up some sidearms on our way over. The sidearm you get depends on the current weapon you have now," Sergeant Charlie said as they walked to the end of the long armory, the wall had different types of weapons on the walls. It had different handguns, submachine guns, and shotguns. The Raptor unit that the marines saw before were loading up on mostly sidearms. The other three men that weren't introduced had different weapons than the rest of the unit. Two of them had a strange advanced sniper rifle that Ash learned back in boot camp about. It was the LBR, the Linear Beam Rifle. The other guy just stockpiled on handguns and sub machine guns. Kurois got two PDWs (Personal Defense Weapon (sort of like a sub machine gun, but smaller)) and put them on the armor that he had on. The belts were magnetic, so the guns stuck to his belt. Scout just grabbed the B-11, a tactical shotgun, and carried it along with his LAR. Skye, after curiously looking at the wall of handguns, decided to reach for two EN-21s, the automatic pistols. The Raptor unit left without saying a word. After they got out of the way, Sergeant Charlie briefed the rest of the group.

"Alright, now listen up. Each of you get a side arm, and don't start complaining about what other people get either. Trust me; the side arm you get is for the best of you all. For the guys that have the AF-31s, grab an EN-20 off the wall. For those of you who have an AF-34, grab the EN-21. For Sanchez and me, we'll grab the B-11. Those of you, who have snipers, pick a sub machine gun or a PDW." The soldiers grabbed what they got without a peep; they had high respect for Sergeant Charlie. Jonsey grabbed the AF-32, the sub machine gun. Ash, who looked at the two types of guns, picked the PDW-40.

"Everybody got your guns?" Everybody just stared at Sergeant Charlie in silence.

"I'll take the silence as a yes. Let's move to the ammunition crates." They got out of the armory and into the sun that was being blocked from the heavy walls and the ceiling of the Armory. They moved to a different building, but this one was a lot smaller.

"Alright, find yourself some magazines and meet me outside. Don't forget to grab a knife and two frags and two plasma grenades along with." The soldiers chatted a little while they grabbed what they needed.

"Having fun yet?" Dimitri said to Ash. Ash could only shake his head while he grabbed a magazine and smacked it into his rifle. While he grabbed his knife, he felt very uncomfortable staring at the sheathed knife that had a blade that was half a foot long. He's hoping that he's never going to have to use this… The group met outside once again, the sound of choppers coming in from the battlefield back to base.

"Alright, let's go!" Harper motioned to his group while he started to jog to the helicopters that touched down at a large gray landing pad that could hold 30 helicopters if needed. Ash went with Harper, Dimitri, Jonsey, Sanchez, and Robin. The black armored personnel helicopters were armed with mini-guns and .50 caliber machine guns on the sides. Doors slid open, and seats were waiting for the team. The whole group took up three helicopters.

#####

Okay, before I go on, I'm just going to explain all the weapons now.

The AF-31s were assault rifles capable of single fire, three burst fire, or fully automatic firing. It's long, the stock is shaped like what an M-16 would look like back in the late days (hehe. Present day for us). The handle on the top, which was about half an inch above the main body, has railings for scopes and sights besides the iron sights on the gun. Railings are also on the sides and bottom of the rail for grips, laser sights, grenade launchers, and other possible attachments. The gun is light and durable. The magazine is slightly curved so that the user could reload with less irritation. The barrel is mostly inside the body of the assault rifle, making it slightly more compact. The bolt is right on top of the body and below the handle, it's a pivoting bolt so that it could fit back with the body of the gun. (For the best description, imagine a G-36 and an M-16 combined). It works in the worst conditions. No matter what it goes through, the AF-31 has never failed the AEON soldier. Possible attachments include: shotgun attachment, grenade launcher attachment, silencer, extended magazines, dot sights, 4X32 scopes, thermal scopes, laser pointers, bayonet, and grip. (Magazine Capacity: 45 rounds)

The AF-34s are carbines that have the single fire and three burst firing mode. The carbine is longer than the assault rifle, but has a slight disadvantage at how it's heavier. It's shaped so that the carbine could fit comfortably in someone's shoulder and be effective in firing modes. It doesn't have a handle on the top like the assault rifle, but it has railings on the sides, top, and bottom of the barrel. The carbine had an adjustable sight and stock so that the AF-34 could fit all, including a teenager. It has a magazine next to the trigger guard, which is long, straight, and slanted at the bottom. The bolt is on the right side of the gun, and is silver amongst all the black. Possible attachments include: shotgun attachment, grenade launcher attachment, silencer, extended magazines, dot sights, 4X32 scopes, thermal scopes, laser pointers, bayonet, and grip. (Magazine Capacity: 30 rounds)

The AF-33s are machine guns and have only one firing mode, fully automatic. It's a gun used by the bulk of many soldiers, it's heavier than the carbine, but reduced in weight from its heavy counterpart that's used in bunkers and armored vehicles. The AF-33 holds a box magazine with two ammo belts inside, excluding the one that can be loaded already. Each ammo belt held 150 bullets that could tear through tough walls in an urban or suburban area. The AF-33 spews out bullets like no other gun on either side of the war, and the military engineers rigged the guns to carry more ammunition and made the belts longer too. Possible attachments include: grip, dot sights, and suppressor. (Magazine capacity: Total-450 rounds per ammunition box. 150 per belt)

The G-12 is a semi-automatic sniper rifle that's used in pretty much everything. It could be used in a heavy firefight, to an assassination mission. It iss the most reliable gun, apart from the AF-31. It was built to sustain damage from the weather and the elements because of what the assassin went through just to kill one commanding officer. The sniper is like the carbine, except that it was longer and has a more longer barrel with a folding bipod. If fit with the right attachments, the G-12 could be one of the most deadliest weapons on the battlefield. Possible attachments: silencer, thermal scope, dot sight, sniper scope, grip, and bipod. (Magazine capacity: 10 bullets)

The G-13 is also a semi-automatic sniper, but it has more kickback that the G-12 because of the high caliber. It's use is to mostly take out light armored vehicles and heavily armored soldiers. The G-13 is mostly an anti-armor weapon. The G-13 can literally tear apart a human body to pieces with one bullet, the shockwave and the bullet penetration can kill someone in seconds if hit in the torso or near the torso. Anyone who survives an accurate shot from the G-13 is considered lucky. The G-13 is larger than the G-12 and has a larger barrel fit to be used for high caliber rounds (The barrel of the Beretta .50 cal). The bipod also is also tightly secured on the G-13 for immediate drop downs and firing. Possible attachments: silencer, Thermal scope, dot sight, sniper scope, grip, and bipod. (Magazine capacity: 10 rounds)

EN-20: The standard issued sidearm that is reliable, but heavy. It's compact, but it holds a decent amount of rounds and has a .45 caliber. Like most handguns, it is semi-automatic, and the slide snaps back when it's out of ammunition. The handgun is flat at the top, and so are the sides. Even though the handgun looks blocky, it has a comfortable grip for the average handler. It's nicknamed "The Hammer," because of some instances where the users would use the handgun like a hammer to pound in some nails in some areas. Also, it provides a solid hand to hand combat weapon. Possible attachments: laser pointer, and silencer. (Magazine Capacity: 18 rounds)

EN-21: The more advanced version of the EN-20. It almost looks the same as the EN-20; the exceptions are the large magazine and the longer barrel. The EN-21 is not as reliable as the EN-20, but has the same capabilities of its predecessor if not more. It has a semi-automatic option as well as a fully automatic function. The larger magazine holds around 35 bullets, and can spray the whole magazine in three seconds. Possible attachments: laser pointer and silencer.

PDW-40: Personal Defense Weapon (PDW for short). It has a semi-automatic and fully automatic capabilities. Originally meant to for Air Force Pilots in case of getting shot down, the PDW-40 actually proved to be very effective on the battle field. The PDW is a unique type of weapon, its magazine is on the side of the gun, it runs along the body and silently ejects when it runs out of ammunition for faster reloading. The magazine mechanism is borrowed from James Garand's M1, but was altered for maximum efficiency. The weapon is shaped like what an MP-7 would be in modern time (Right now) and has the capability of a foldable grip along with a foldable stock also for increased accuracy. The con of this weapon is that it can jam easily if there is no proper care for the weapon, the ejecting magazine could cost someone's life. However, the high fire rate, accuracy, and the convenience of the weapon prove to be a formidable weapon. Weapons Research also proved that if this weapon is dual wielded, it is almost as accurate without dual wielding. Ejecting magazines also help reloading, making it easier for the user to dual wield. Possible attachments: dot sights, laser pointers, (grip part of gun), and silencer. (Magazine Capacity: 40 rounds)

AF-32: The submachine gun in the AF family. It is a good Close Quarters Combat weapon for breaching doors, walls, and good for suburban areas and house to house clearing. The AF-32 is meant to fit comfortably in one's shoulder and be short enough to move easily with. The magazine is next to the trigger guard, and is curved to make it easier to reload faster. (looks slightly like an MP5). The stock can fold, so it can double it's effectiveness in CQB if possible. Possible attachments: dot sight, laser pointer, grip, and silencer. (Magazine Capacity: 40 rounds)

B-11: The B-11 is one of the most feared weapons of the Aeonian soldier. The tactical shotgun can work either using pump action or a fully auto fire mode. The shotgun is shaped like the AF-31 assault rifle, but has a shorter length and no magazine. The weapon can hold ten shells, and can unload in a couple seconds. No body armor can withstand the fire rate and the power of the B-11. Possible attachments: silencer, grip, and dot sight.

A-1: Mostly called the LAR (Laser Assault Rifle), it's mostly meant for taking out Mavericks on the battlefield. (Most descriptive look can be the assault rifle used in the movie, ALIENS). The LAR is a weapon that consists of high concentration energy that is released in a beam. Able to cut through armor, it is a weapon to be feared from both sides. One mistake with an LAR could kill a whole entire team nearby. The LAR is a weapon that runs on energy, not conventional bullets. With the capability of firing full auto or semi-automatic without worrying about bullets, the user has to worry about the overheating of the gun. Instead of magazines, it holds a cooling pack that lasts for a certain amount of rounds, or for a certain amount of time. The weapon can last to a certain point, to where the weapon overheats and the energy explodes out of the gun, that's why the gun is a potential threat to a team. Even thought the gun is built to withstand getting hit from bullets, it can still explode. The cooling pack has a slightly blue glow and is made up of liquid Nitrogen. When it gets too hot, the temperature indicator turns red. The user then has to eject the magazine by simultaneously pressing two buttons located on both sides of the gun near the top. The A-1 can cool on its own, depending on the conditions. It does not cool as fast with the cooling pack. The lasers also look red, so they can be used as tracers. The user also has to keep in mind that tracers also work both ways… Possible attachments include: shotgun attachment, grenade launcher attachment, dot sights, 4X32 scopes, thermal scopes, laser pointers, bayonet, and grip.

(These weapons aren't introduced yet, but keep an eye out for them.)

A-2: Mostly called the LBR (Linear Beam Rifle), it is a sniper rifle that can cut through light armor like a hot knife through butter. Almost no one is safe from a LBR sniper. (Looks like Dragonav). The LBR has the same principle of the A-1 LAR, but it uses so much energy in one shot, that it overheats and can burn the hand that is holding the body in five consecutive shots. The cooling takes shorter than the A-1 because of its slender body, but it can also be dangerous to the hands holding the weapon as well. The beam is a bright scarlet, making it stand out on the battlefield. Proving that it doesn't do well in tactical and stealth missions, there are multiple snipers with the LBR. Once the snipers get in place, they open up and move away once all the snipers have picked out their targets. The beam that emits from the snipers is a dead give away, so the snipers has to gun and run. Possible attachments: thermal scope, dot sight, sniper scope, grip, and bipod.

A-3: Also known as the PMG, the plasma machine gun. The machine gun's rounds are made up of Plasma, and it can burn through armor if the user continually uses the PMG on the target. The PMG, like the A-1 and the A-2, also overheats and emits an obvious bullet tracing. The PMG has a massive cooling pack, and can go through 200 rounds before overheating the gun and the cooling pack. (Looks like SAW) Possible attachments include: grip, and dot sights.

Frag grenade: the frag grenade is pretty much self explanatory. It is round shaped, and is activated by pulling the safety pin.

Plasma grenade: It's like the sticky grenade form Halo, it sticks, whines, then boom. Its circular shaped, and it's activated by pressing a button.

G-62: The anti-armor weapon of the Aeonian military. One shot tube like weapon, capable of locking on to helicopters as well as fast moving ground vehicles. Looks like a green pipe with a targeting system and computer on the side.

(That was tiring… my imagination could only go so far so I used some examples… All of the advanced weapons are gray.)

######

The doors of the helicopter didn't close, and Ash felt the helicopter lift up and take them away. He saw the background blur and his heart quickened from realizing that he was on his way to his first battle. Eventually, he saw large buildings, and he could tell that they passed a suburban area before heading into the city.

"_Thirty seconds,"_ the pilot spoke over the communication system that was built into their helmets. Ash checked his sniper rifle, and waited anxiously.

"Ketchup, watch where you point that thing. You're gonna end up blowing my head off!" Sanchez said and pushed the barrel out of his face.

"Sorry!" Ash blushed and set the sniper's rifle butt on the ground and pointed it at the ceiling and made sure that it wasn't pointed to the people next to him, and the people across from him.

"_Ten seconds,"_ the pilot calmly said. The gunner that was positioned next to them opened up with gun fire. Charlie brought his heavy machinegun to his shoulder and stared at Ash, who was across from him. Ash nervously held the sniper so that he had it pointed to the sky and held it carefully. He pulled the strap around him so that it wouldn't fall off.

"Go go go!" Ash almost forgot about what he was doing as the helicopter landed. He got up and scrambled out of the sides of the helicopter. He was met with the smell of burning objects and the sight of smoking areas and broken buildings. They were right behind the front lines, but they landed right in the middle of a heated battle. A bullet ricocheted off the armor of the helicopter next to Ash's head.

"Move!" Charlie screamed at the soldiers that just touched down. The helicopters then took off and flew away, popping flares on their way out. A heat-seeking missile missed the helicopter by inches before going for a flare.

**11:05 AM**

"_This is Harper, we've touched down and moving to accompany friendlies on the line."_

"_Copy. Give them hell Harper."_ They were on a scorched street, carcasses of cars and armored vehicles were scattered along the street, making cover points. The sun barely poured its rays with the cloud of smoke from artillery and burning buildings. Down the wide street was the Aeolian line, and the Neolians were trying to push forward. They were about five hundred meters away, and they started to move toward the front lines. About two hundred meters further, they all took cover in a ditch on the street, which was created from countless bombing raids. It acted like a hole, but several trench-like ditches were also present. Medics and wounded were being treated here.

"What's going on?" Harper yelled over the gunfire. A soldier with a red cross patch on his shoulder turned from his patient, who was shot in the leg, and turned to the higher ranked soldier.

"We're advancing sir!"

"Jonsey, Ketchum, get up on one of those buildings and get on a sniping position! Harper pointed his sharp eyes at a red apartment that was almost intact, the side that was facing the Aeolian lines was blown off, and the skeleton and part of the insides were visible. The five story building could use a good sniping point.

"Come on Ketchup," Jonsey climbed out of the foxhole he was in and rushed toward the doors of the apartment. Ash did the same, trying to keep his rifle intact while doing so. They both knew the procedure of breaching, and they took out their close quarters weapons to breach the building. Jonsey went in first with his gun pointed at the desk, no one was there. Ash went in next, staring down the gun through the red dot sight at possible hiding spots.

"Clear," Ash told Jonsey while he lowered his gun.

"Keep you guard up, you never know," Jonsey told Ash, his eyes peeled. They both turn and point their guns at an elevator door; the sound of grinding metal drew their attention. The doors opened without a sound, but nothing was there. The image of the number of the elevator's location was scrambled.

"Well that's out of the question. Up the stairs we go." The inside of the apartment was a tan color; the stairs were made of metal. They passed blown up hallways and doors, whoever lived in this apartment either got out safely or died in the bombing. Luckily, the stairs were still sturdy. At times, they passed openings of the apartment that showed the street and the firefight that was going on. When they reached the top floor, they stopped at a room with a broken door.

"Here's a good spot." Jonsey and Ash moved in, a small window provided a nice spot to view the battle and not get noticed. The window pane was shattered, and pieces of glass were all over the floor. Whoever was in this apartment left, but traces of life were still around. Teddy bears, toys, books, computers, it seems like only the necessities were taken.

"Alright, this is a good view. Don't open fire till one of the sergeants tell us to. The sun is pointing in their direction, so you don't have to worry about the glint of your scope. Set up a bipod in this window, I'm gonna try to get another window. Jonsey moved on to a different room. Ash was nervous; he pulled the legs of the bipod and set up his sniper. He looked through the scope to get a visual on his enemies. The Neolians were defending themselves, their defensive lines were thick with soldiers, but were getting thinner. He watched as some of the blue uniformed Neolian soldiers got picked off from their spots from volleys from the Aeonian lines. He zoomed in more with his scope, he finally found a target. A man using a large mini-gun at a machine gun post was most likely to be a potential threat. Ash was nervous, he watched as the man let loose continuous bursts of rounds that could tear an APC apart in seconds.

"_Go for the targets with the most potential threats,"_ Jonsey said over the communication line. Ash hardened himself.

"_I know. I'm getting the guy behind the sandbags." _

"_Heh, all of 'em are behind sandbags, idiot."_

"_All support units within the communications, we need support now!! We're pinned down!"_ Ash turned away from his target to see that Harper and the rest of the soldiers moved up to the front lines and were engaging with the Neolians behind cover. The Neolian fortifications were stronger; sandbags, barricades, and barbed wire protected most of the soldiers.

"_Alright, that's our cue, smoke 'em!"_ Jonsey said over the communication line. Ash turned back to his target, pulling the trigger without thinking. He saw the man throw his head back and fall backwards. Two men dragged his body and another man took his place, before he bent forward and fell on top of the mini-gun. The mini-gun was still firing, and the body pushed it so that it turned against the very soldiers that were depending on it to keep the enemy back.

Ash stood wide eyed, he just killed a dozen men with two bullets.

"_Good shot Ketchup! Don't stop! Keep shooting!"_ It took a few seconds to get back and start firing again. He watched as people fell from the shots that he himself was shooting by every pull of the trigger.

"_Jonsey, I don't know…"_ Ash said sickly. Every ounce of hatred he grew in boot camp left him as he realized that he took not only one, but multiple lives in an instant.

"_Just keep firing! Every second you waste can cost a man his life!"_ Ironic. How he was saving lives as easily as taking away lives also. He ran out of ammunition in his magazine, and he stopped.

"_I'm… I'm out." _

"_You better be reloading!" _Jonsey's voice projected over the boom of the sound of a high caliber sniper. Ash kept the sniper down in its place, but pressed the releasing trigger right next to the trigger guard and let the magazine fall to the ground. He shakily felt around his vest for another magazine, slamming back into the sniper. He looked down the sight again to fire again and again at the blue uniformed soldiers that attempted to drop down and try to avoid detection from the raining bullets from above.

"_Fix bayonets!"_ A voice could be heard over the communication line. Through the scope, Ash saw the men fit large combat knives onto their weapons.

"_Reloading,"_ Jonsey calmly said over the communication line. How could he stay so calm?!?

"_Charge! They're retreating!"_ Harper's voice crackled. The men rose up with a shout and charged the defensive fortifications. Some soldiers stayed to try to fend off the oncoming wave of soldiers, but most of them fled. The Aeonians charged, some moving forward with their bayonets far ahead of their bodies, some were shooting what was left as they moved out of their hiding spots. Ash stopped, he let go of his rifle, which dropped from the window onto the carpeted floor along with empty bullet casings. He dumbly sat down, blank faced.

"Ketchup? Ash!" Jonsey ran to Ash, who was breathing heavily and staring at the floor. Jonsey sat down with him.

"You alright buddy?" Jonsey said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

"No, I don't think I can do this," Ash said while he looked at Jonsey. Jonsey just sighed.

"I know this is hard for you, but you're in war now buddy."

"I wasn't war to be like expecting this!" Ash yelled at Jonsey, who moved back a little.

"Hey! Watch it; I'm just trying to help!" Ash turned away in shame.

"Sorry…" Jonsey exhaled and picked up his sniper.

"We kill so that others may live, that's war. The lives of innocent people are at stake, and it's our job to protect them. Sure we take the life of soldiers, but are we going to let them take the life of civilians?" Ash turned and looked up at Jonsey. He stretched out a hand and Ash took it. They looked into each other's eyes; Ash's black orbs were now back on fire with the spirit he used to have.

'_I have to do it for Latias too…'_ He looked into Jonsey's tired eyes, but also found a glint of life in them.

"Now pick up your rifle soldier, we have a war to fight."

#####

"We're finally on the offensive!" Dimitri shouted as he rushed forward, shooting a soldier in the back while he tried to run away.

"Let's go kick some ass!" Eddie ran forward in front of Dimitri. At the end of the street, there was a T shaped fork, and all the Neolian soldiers retreated by turning left.

"They're retreating…" Harper muttered to himself while he looked over a sandbag fortification.

"_Wait! Gibbons! Stand down!"_ Eddie stopped at the end of the street, turning to where the Neolian soldiers turned. Even from where Harper was watching Eddie, he could see that his eyes grew large.

"A-Ambush!" Eddie started to run back, but then an explosion made him fly for about ten feet and he tumbled into a sandbag defense.

"Gibbons! Eddie! Shit!" Dimitri was behind him all along, but was never close enough for the explosion to knock him off his feet.

"_Eddie is down! Eddie is down!"_ Eddie's body was limp for a few seconds before he got back up and started to cough.

"I can't feel my arm," Eddie groaned. His gun was on the ground and he started to stumble back to the rest of the Aeonian soldiers. Dimitri grabbed Eddie by his good arm and started to pull him back. By this time, Ash and Jonsey were out of the apartment.

"_Dimitri!"_ Ash yelled. He ran forward, and Jonsey followed short after. The two boys made it back, but Eddie was grasping his arm in pain at every step he took. He also looked like he was having trouble breathing. He sat down next to Harper behind the sandbags, and he was shouting from the pain he had. A wail came out; Eddie's head was thrown back to let the cry out.

"_Get me a medic!"_ Ash could hear through his helmet. Once they reached the reach of the Aeonians, a fifteen foot mecha turned around the corner. It's black canopy had the glint of the sun bearing down on the soldiers, making it look intimidating.

"Oh shit!" Dimitri yelled while he jumped over the sandbags and landed right next to Eddie. The mecha was massive, its navy colored body was moving quickly towards them as they sat there. One arm had a cannon while the other had a gatling gun. Jonsey took a position on one of the sandbags to shoot the darkened, armored canopy with his high caliber sniper.

"Eat this!" With the pull of the trigger, the bullet hit the canopy, but it bounced off. The mecha turned and fired bursts of gatling gun rounds towards Jonsey.

"_Sir! It's-!"_ Jonsey stated. Harper cursed under his breath.

"_Does anybody have an anti-"_ A shell exploded right next to Jonsey, but luckily the sandbags protected him for one shot. They flew up in the air, debris flew higher.

"Christ!" Jonsey rushed over to where Dimitri was, as well as Ash.

"Get me a G-62! Private! Use that weapon before that _goddamned_ machine kills us all!"Charlie commanded a man right next to him. Another shell was fired, this time claiming a handful of soldiers. Other soldiers tried firing back, but were torn apart with gatling bullets. The ripping of the heavy machine gun sounded terrible along with the screams of the Aeonian soldiers. The private did what he was told; he took the missile launcher and shot it at the mecha that was 50 meters away. The missile hit the target, but the mecha was still functional. It now started to back up with firing both weapons towards the Aeonians, aware of the anti-armor weapon.

"_It's backing up!"_ Robin yelled, glancing over the sandbags.

"_One more! One more shot!"_ Charlie shouted. The same private reloaded his launcher and fires it, this time at the Mecha's "shoulder" joint. The mecha exploded, the canopy was still intact, but couldn't let the explosions come out, killing the pilot that was never seen. The mecha fell apart, but then blew up sky high.

"Ha! Try shooting me now ya sunnuva bitch!" Dimitri shouted. All the soldiers cheered at the dead machine, but then tanks came out of both sides of the street.

"Ha-fuck!" Dimitri got back down.

"_Fire mission! Fire mission! We have multiple armored units heading down the street! Requesting air support!" _Harper yelled into his communication device as a tank shell blew apart some of the soldiers behind sandbags.

"_All air support is busy, stand by."_

"Mother-!" Sanchez cursed.

"Get off the street! Go go!" Harper roared. Ash ran into a small alley, the rest of the squad followed short. Shells exploded behind them, and some of the soldiers went flying.

"Wait! The medics!" Ash yelled as he tried to turn around.

"We've got to get out of here!" Eddie gasped as he clutched his arm.

"Ketchum! Get your ass back here!" Charlie roared, but none of the soldiers tried to stop him. In fact, the same private that had the G-62 followed him.

"You're going to need some help!" The private yelled. His green eyes looked at Ash with seriousness.

"_Sanchez! Dimitri! Vic! Go with them! Make sure you all come back alive! We're gonna get Eddie and the others to a safe zone!"_ Harper said over the comms while Ash and the private were running.

"I've got four more missiles in my bag! Someone's got to help me reload!" The private said as they reached the opening of the alley they just turned into. They saw the wreckage of the mecha they destroyed, but they didn't see any of the tanks.

"Okay, on my mark, we run to the mecha and use it for cover, got it?" The private said.

"Say what now?" Vic said as the three others caught up.

"We're going to run to that hunk of junk at three! One… Two… Three!" The group of soldiers ran towards the wreckage, as they ran out into full view, they realized the five tanks were already headed to where the medics were. In fact, the gunners on the top were out and using the machine guns to try to kill the medics and the wounded. Moving in V formation, the tanks would reach the medics in a couple minutes with little resistance. The soldiers turned left behind the sandbags, they were in the position the Neolian soldiers used to be.

"Ash! Leave the missile work to the others! Snipe the bastards on the machine guns!" Jonsey shouted as he knelt down on the gravel of the street. He quickly took aim and blew off the back of one of the soldier's heads. Ash, blood pumping through his veins, saw that innocent people were on the line. He acted without hesitation this time. With quick precision, he picked off three of the five tank gunners that were there. The last tank gunner was taken out by Dimitri.

The five tanks stopped, and their turrets started to turn back. The private shot a missile at one of the tanks, damaging it and causing the turret to stop where it was aiming. Another machine gunner attempted to come out to kill the Aeonian soldiers, but was shot to pieces by Sanchez's AF-33. The next missile finished the job, the tank exploded along with all of the ammunition that was inside. The tank next to it was also hit, but the turret managed to fully turn around. However, the private was loaded and ready to fire by that time, and fired the missile dead on into the barrel of the tank's turret. The tank blew up from the inside out; the explosion was bigger this time. The last three tanks fired their shells in order, and each shell hit their mark at the sandbags. The private, Dimitri, and Sanchez went flying, but they luckily landed safely onto another sandbag position behind them.

"Jesus Christ! How the hell did you guys survive that?!?!" Jonsey couldn't help but wheeze and laugh. The last three tanks then turned their turrets toward Ash and Jonsey…

"Oh crap…" Ash said as he almost dropped his rifle. He stared straight into the barrel of a tank. Ash closed his eyes when he heard an explosion, but strangely didn't feel any pain. He opened his eyes to see the last of the tanks blown apart.

"_You dudes did a pretty good job for a bunch of marines!"_ A voice crackled. Ash recognized that voice… He didn't have time to remember, he ran over to the other three that were hit, and checked on all of them. The private and Sanchez got up, but Dimitri was still on the ground.

"Dimitri! Get up! Come on!" Ash said, shaking him.

"_Get out of here… I'm hurt you dumbass,"_ Dimitri croaked into his communication device. Ash laughed, happy that his friends were alive. Dimitri was face first lying down on the gravel, giving a comical like look.

"_Ketchup, we have company…" _Sanchez whispered into his helmet. Ash turned and looked toward the T shaped fork, and his shoulders fell at the sight of more than a dozen soldiers, all pointing their rifles at the five.

"Oh come on…" Jonsey said, defeated. He raised his arms up and set his weapons down. Everybody else did so too, their hearts pounding at the Neolian soldiers that were coming towards them. Dimitri groaned,

"_Do I have to look?"_ Sanchez just kicked him and coughed. The blue uniformed soldiers came nearer and nearer.

"What should we do with them?" One soldier scoffed, as if he already knew the answer.

"I say we burn 'em!"

"Execution style man, let's beat them up a bit."

"Russian roulette anybody?" One soldier laughed cruelly. Ash just shut his eyes. He didn't want to think about what was going to happen…

'_Is this it? Am I seriously going to die here?... Latias…' _

"Gah!"

Ash shot open his eyes. He watched as the whole group of the blue uniformed soldiers turns around. The soldiers at the back of the group were all struggling in the grips of six soldiers; all of them had a knife stabbed into their torsos from the six non-Neolian soldiers. Five of the bodies fell from five of the soldiers, and the six gray uniformed soldiers were wearing gray uniforms with black face masks. They were the Raptor team they saw earlier! The one body that was still being held by a single soldier wasn't struggling anymore; the knife was stuck near the bottom of his torso, near a non-vital area. The Neolian's gun wasn't in his hands anymore either, they were in the Raptor's hand. The Raptor was using him as a meat shield, and he started to open fire at the soldiers. Whoever the Raptor was, he or she was _very_ accurate. Each bullet went into through the knee guards, or into a thigh, or into a shoulder or arm. The other five Raptors all rushed forward, and the leader had a… baseball bat?

The leader took his metal baseball bat and hit the head of one soldier's head, a satisfying crack was heard and the body dropped to the ground. Three of them had beam energy knives and stabbed their way through the group. The last Raptor had dual wielding automatic pistols, shooting the soldiers in sprays of bullets. Ash and the rest just watched in shock at how quick the group of Neolians were taken out. One of the last Neolian soldiers was left shaking, his gun shook also. In attempt to surrender, he dropped his gun and raised his hands, but the leader took his baseball bat and whacked him in the side of the torso. The soldier crumped to the ground in a yell of pain, and laid there groaning. The leader just crouched down and tapped the soldier's helmet with the baseball bat.

"Bonk." The leader pulled down his facemask and grinned. It was Scout. The rest pulled their facemasks down, and the Raptor using the Neolian soldier as a meat shield softly let down the soldier he was using. The Neolian soldier was groaning, but the last Raptor left him with the rest.

"He'll live," The last Raptor pulled down his facemask while the other Raptor, Skye, talked to him. Before she got a response, a Neolian soldier rose up, his gun was raised at the Aeonian soldiers.

"Die mother fucker!" In a blink of an eye, Kurois propelled himself forward and used his right hand to push the gun up to the sky so that the bullets that came out of the Neolian soldier's gun went harmlessly up to the sky. Kurois elbowed the Neolian in the face, causing him to drop his gun, and then punched him in the gut. The soldier dropped like a rock after a flurry of punches and kicks.

"So will he," Kurois stated.

"Holy shit!" Jonsey said as he laughed. He picked up his rifle again.

"That was pretty badass! How are you going that fast?!?" Jonsey asked. The golden eyed boy lazily looked down at his boots and looked back up.

"These make me fast," The boy grinned. The pair of black boots had a silver, double helix going from ankle to mid-shin.

"How?" Ash asked as he came up next to Jonsey. Sanchez was picking up Dimitri and the private a few feet away from them. The private had a whole bag of sand opened on his face, and he was spitting continuously.

"They have a booster thingy on it," Scout said as he swung his bat around and back onto his shoulder.

"We call him Darkblur because of them," Skye said, taking a picture of the private, who was covered in sand. She also took a picture of the face down Dimitri. Darkblur nodded,

"Yep." Ash curiously bent down to look at them, but abruptly stood back up when he heard the voice on the radio.

"_Well, my work here's done. All the medics and the wounded are still alive. Gotta get to the other spots, Creyo out."_ Ash looked at the same apartment that he was in before, and he could make out a small silhouette… It was Ryan. He blew up the tanks!

"He used a mortar by himself, the guy's a genius with explosives," Darkblur seemed to read his mind.

"Really? He really saved us back there," Ash picked up his sniper rifle again.

"Yeah. That hothead," One of the Raptor soldiers smirked.

"Well, like, him, also need to help the others. We'll catch you guys later!" Scout said as the group started running back from where they came from, from the forked T. Ash and the others looked at the group run, all of them were clearing barricades and sandbags like professional free-runners.

"Damn," Sanchez whistled. Dimitri finally was upright as well as the private.

"What did I miss?" Vic said, who _just_ came up. Sanchez looked at him with a glare and smacked him in the back of the head. The private was dusting himself off from the sand.

"What now?" Ash asked, looking around. He looked back into the alley to see Harper and the rest come back.

"You took care of all of this yourselves?" Harper looked at the carcasses of the scorched tanks on the street.

"No sir, we had some help from the EYD sir," The private said, dusting sand off his helmet. Harper looked at him and laughed,

"What the hell happened to you?" The private grinned,

"I fell," they all laughed.

"What's your name son?" Charlie asked.

"Jim sir, Jim Marshall. Just call me Jimbo sir," He said. Ash got a good look at him, he was about Ash's age! (Jim Marshall Age: 13 Brown Hair, Green Eyes. 5 feet 7 inches)

"Alright Jimbo. You're gonna be with us now. And don't call us sir, it sounds strange," Harper said, grinning.

"How's Eddie?" Jonsey asked Harper.

"He'll live, he probably broke his arm along with a couple of his ribs," Robin said calmly. She was right behind Harper.

"Now, come on. We have to move on now, it's time for lunch." Harper motioned with his hand. The soldiers cheered, even through the smoke and the sounds of gunfire on the streets.

#####

Whew! I think this is the longest chapter I have to date! It's been a month too, whoo! Haha, tell me how it was, this was a pretty hard chapter to write with so many distractions and so much other work to do. If there's anything I can improve, tell me! If there's something you like, tell me! If there's something you hate, tell me! If there's something random you want to say, tell me! Just stick it in a review or e mail me!

Your Brother in Arms,

Cj Fang

Merry Christmas! Hope you guys get kissed under a mistletoe or something! (E mail me!)


	7. Paradise City

The Neon War Chapter 7 Paradise City

Sorry for my slow ass progress. But who cares? No one really reviews anyway. Enjoy!

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"How the hell did you kill off all of us with just that?!?" CJ heard from his friends as he wiped his brow to get rid of the sweat. He was laughing; a blue bandanna was tied around his head in a military like style along with his green hoodie and black T-shirt underneath.

"Come on, I'm in Special Forces _and_ the Air Force! I can kill all of you with just my bare hands if I wanted to!" CJ joked as he looked back at the others. The fourteen other boys were about his age, all wearing red bandannas either on their heads, around their necks, or covering their nose and mouth. They set down their weapons and took off their bandannas. CJ set down a pistol, an airsoft pistol that replicated the semi automatic standard issue pistol in the Neolian forces.

"Screw you dude," one guy said. The rest of the others laughed. They were in a forest, all sweaty and dirty except for CJ. In between the fifteen was a round table, camouflaged. It held Airsoft guns, both replications of guns from the Neolian side and the Aeonian side.

"I still don't get how you managed to dodge all those pellets man, all of us were going auto!" Another boy said while he took off his bandanna and set it on the table.

"Training," CJ stuck his tongue out. He felt his cell phone vibrate in his jeans pocket, taking it out and pressing a button to talk with whoever was on the other line.

"Hello?" CJ answered the call, putting the phone on his left ear. He took off his bandanna while he listened, stuffing it into his jeans pocket. It didn't fit all the way, so some of it was sticking out of his pocket.

"_CJ? Did you say you wanted to go to lunch today?" _It was Luna, and CJ just straightened up.

"Oh, yeah! I'll meet you at Pete's at around twelve if you want," CJ said, smiling.

"CJ! Stop fucking your pillow!" One guy yelled out, yelling into the cell phone. CJ frowned, picking up the airsoft pistol and shooting him in between the eyes without even turning his direction. The boy stumbled back, rubbing a new red mark that was growing on his face.

"That was your brother," CJ said with a bored tone. He heard a scoff from the other line,

"_Shoot him for me,"_ Luna laughed. CJ smiled,

"I already did. So twelve?"

"_Okay, twelve. I might have to leave early though, I have homework to finish. I'll see you there!" _

"Alright, later."

"_Bye!"_ The other person cut the line, and CJ put his cell phone back onto his pocket.

"That hurt," Luna's brother groaned. CJ scoffed,

"You deserved it. Alright guys, let's go," CJ smirked. They walked out of the large forest preserve with athletic bags filled with airsofting material. At the opening of the forest preserve, there was a small parking lot that had cars of five members that were already fit to drive.

"Shotgun!" CJ yelled out, pointing his finger at a nice, sleek, black car. Others started calling seats, and the drivers opened the trunks for the guns, ammunition, and supplies were. CJ pulled open the car door and sat down, comfortably fitting in the chair and pulled the seatbelt on. His friend, who was obviously fit to be in the driver's seat, smiled and waited until everybody fit in.

"Ready for some old music?" The guy on the driver's seat asked, pulling his phone out and pressed a button. The car's sound system gave off a chime, synchronizing the cell phone that was also a music player.

"Ah come on man!" One guy groaned. CJ shook his head, smiling. The driver pulled back, playing his songs.

"Hey, hey, driver gets dibs on the music. If you don't like it, get out man," The driver laughed. The old sound of the electrical guitar strumming at least got CJ interested.

"Guns N' Roses?" CJ asked. He taps his fingers on the arm rest.

"How'd you know? This song's centuries old man," The driver said, looking back and driving out of the parking lot into a road that led to the entrance of the forest preserve. The drums came in the guitar as they pulled out. CJ looked past the driver to the left through the foliage to stare at buildings that were slowly getting bigger as they went further and further away from the forest preserve.

"I've heard this somewhere, I've played it before too," CJ said as he relaxed. Right when the get outside, the city was in full view and the music started to pick up its tempo. The city was marvelous to CJ, its cars and its tall buildings made him feel back at home. It was nice to be back at home away from all the war, spending time with his friends on a Saturday morning.

"Take me down to the paradise city where the grass is green and the girls are pretty," The driver sang.

"Oh won't you please take me home!" CJ sang along. The poor passengers in the back slumped back and looked disgusted. CJ put a window down, sticking his arm out and shaping his fingers in wings and using the wind to push his hand up when he angled his fingers. He marveled at the city, this really was a Paradise City. The weather, the sky, the people, the city itself, the cars, and how clean the city was. This city was considered the cleanest city in all of Neolia, if not the whole continent. The driver then stepped on the gas, going seventy miles an hour on a forty miles an hour zone and breaking CJ's thoughts. He sped through the lights, cutting in front of drivers and beating them to stop lights that turned red right when the sleek car sped past the light.

"Holy…!" The passenger said as he felt the car tip over. The car's AI system was screaming directions and telling the driver to slow down, but the music kept playing and drowned them out, now moving to an even faster pace. Cars honked their horns as they sped through, never hitting a green light in their little race speed. Right at the end of the song, they stopped right at the crash of the drums right in a parking lot. The car drifted, parallel parking with the open spot near the side walk that was near a small family restaurant that was next to a couple buildings. CJ stumbled out of the car, laughing.

"You've got to take me places some other time," CJ laughed. The driver saluted,

"I'll take you back home next time buddy. Ciao!" The car then sped off, with a cop car right behind it as they turned a corner. CJ sweatdropped, lucky to have been dropped off before the police tracked them down.

"Ah well, on to Pete's!" CJ smiled. He opened the door of the restaurant; the smell of a large assortment of food filled his nostrils as he walked to a table where a pretty girl happened to be sitting. She wore jeans and a green shirt that fit tightly on her, showing her hourglass like figure. She turned to the door, smiling as she pulled out her phone.

"You're right on time flyboy," Luna winked. CJ rolled his sleeves up and sat down, laughing.

"A real man keeps his promises," CJ winked back. "What're you gonna get?"

"I don't know, I want something solid. I'm really hungry!" Luna licked her lips. CJ chuckled,

"Same here. I woke up early and forgot to eat breakfast too," CJ stuck his tongue out while they both got up to order. He ordered the usual from Pete's, a cut open croissant with beef and cheese fit into it. Luna ordered a nice cheeseburger, and they both grabbed water instead of soda. After they paid, they went back and sat down. The restaurant had a lot of tables, all maroon and a tan color for the seats and the walls.

"How was airsofting?" Luna asked. She took a small sip from her water.

"Easy, after all that training," CJ smirked, taking a sip himself, "They never knew what hit them."

"Wait, you were by yourself?" Luna asked, placing her drink on the table.

"Yeah, with a spring pistol," CJ winked, still sipping. Luna shook her head,

"Seriously? Jeez, _I_ can probably do better than them!" Luna smiled. CJ smiled, she only went airsofting a couple times while the others have been airsofting almost every other week if not every. She had some knowledge about airsofting with a brother at home who knew everything about the sport.

"You probably could have," CJ chuckled. He realized that his food was out, standing to grab both of their meals at the serving counter.

"Ooh," Luna widened her eyes at the burger. CJ licked his lips, but first things first. He bent his forward and closed his eyes for a few seconds before he started to dig in.

"Oh yeah, how's the church doing?" CJ asked after swallowing another bite of his cheesy beef croissant. Luna just finished her small prayer before raising her head.

"We're doing great, but it's not the same without you," Luna sadly remarked. CJ gently smiled.

"Aw, that's nice to know," CJ chuckled.

"No really, we miss you. You should come tomorrow," Luna said as she took another bite.

"Alright, sure," Chris nodded. Before either of them noticed, he was already finished with his food. Luna widened her eyes, giving Chris a surprised look.

"And I thought you ate faster before," Luna remarked. She was halfway through her burger when CJ was wiping his hands on a napkin.

"I'm used to eating faster now, I'll probably stop eating this fast once I get out of my military career," Chris smirked.

"Oh? And when is that going to be over?" Luna asked. Chris opened his mouth, but then closed it again.

"It's… not gonna be until the war is over…" Chris said, looking away. Luna looked up from her burger.

"What? I thought you were coming back after your time was over!" Luna yelled with a sad face. A couple heads turned their way.

"I know, but I have an obligation now, and I can't get out of it." CJ frowned. Luna closed her eyes, sadly frowning.

"But… why?" Luna asked softly. CJ sighed,

"I… can't tell you." Luna sighed also, getting up and throwing her garbage with CJ. He pushed the door to feel the small breeze of air flow through his hair and walked out. He looked up; the once blue skies were now clouded and gray. He kept the door open for Luna, who walked out and quietly thanking him. They both walked out of the restaurant together, walking down the empty street without a word. CJ sighed again,

"Sorry…" She put an arm around his, pulling it closer to her and leaning her head against him while they walked on the grey side walk along the streets of the city.

"Just promise me something," Luna softly spoke. CJ turned his head to her,

"Yeah?"

"Take care of yourself and give this back to me when you come home again," Chris blushed as he watched her reach into her chest and pull out a small silver cross necklace. Chris stared at her with surprised reactions,

"But this is-"

"I don't care, just please. Take it," she took it off, stopping her and him. They turned towards each other and Luna put it over his neck. He stared into the sad eyes of his girlfriend that were looking up and down at Chris without looking directly into his eyes. She put her head on his chest and leaned forward. Chris looked to his left and right then behind him to see an alley. He slowly backed to the alley so that they had a more private area to have their time. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight and holding her close.

"I'll be back, I promise," Chris told Luna as he squeezed her harder. She squeezed back,

"Okay…" The muffled sound of his girlfriend came from his sweater. She looked up and smiled, small tears running down her cheeks. Chris sadly smiled while he raised a hand to wipe the tears away from her face with his thumb.

"When I'm gone, don't be sad. I'll see you soon," Chris smiled happily this time. Luna sniffled and hugged him back. Chris closed his eyes, holding her without the intention of letting go. She let go though, and when Chris opened his eyes, she already had her lips on his. Chris closed his eyes again, taking his hands away from holding her back and holding her sides. She coiled her arms around his neck, stroking the back of his neck with her fingers while he gently ran his hands up and down her sides. Next thing he knew, he prodded his tongue into her mouth and pressed into the kiss. She returned the favor by stroking his tongue too.

He decided to take it a step further when he pressed her against the wall and kept going. They stopped to quickly take a breath and make out again. His hands were trailing across her body and back, causing Luna to shiver a couple times. They finally let go, a small strand of saliva quickly broke as they separated. They both had red tints on their faces when they connected heads and held each other. To him, she is a pure hearted girl with the perfect combination of cute, sexy and beautiful. To her, he is a handsome, humble young man who is ready to help and support her in any way possible. As they hugged each other tighter, they felt each other's hearts beat in the same way.

"I love you." CJ said as he closed his eyes. Luna smiled and put a hand on his cheek,

"I love you too." She quickly pecked him and hugged him tighter and placing her head on his chest. CJ opened his eyes when he felt a raindrop on his nose, crossing his eyes to feel the drop. She let go of him, laughing as she saw him cross his eyes at the small droplet of water on his nose. He laughed too, taking off his sweater and covering them both from the drops of rain that gradually increased in quantity. They both ran out of the alley, covered by the large green sweater.

"Shoot, I forgot about my ride," CJ said as he stuck his tongue out. They were now under the small cliff like area of the entrance of the library, sheltering from the rain.

"We can run there, my house is about three blocks down," Luna told him. CJ shrugged.

"Alright, let's go!" They both ran through streets and through small puddles that were forming already from the large amount of rain. They laughed as they ran to another store in a square to shelter themselves from the rain.

"Alright, there's your apartment," CJ pointed across the street farther down the street. Luna smiled,

"Yeah, it's over there." They were clearly both enjoying this, running through the rain close together. CJ wrung his sweater, but then a big gust of wind blew it away.

"Ah!" CJ watched as his sweater was heading towards the fountain. He ran out, realizing that two benches and a garbage bin was standing in his way. He jumped onto the benches, running across them with quick speed. He jumped onto the trash bin, bounding off of it to jump on the edge of the large fountain. His sweater was flying towards the water, right above it on the other side of the fountain. Once CJ jumped onto the edge of the fountain, he used his momentum to jump again, hands out first and springing like an animal. He grabbed his sweater right before it touched the water, then landed on the other side of the fountain with his hands. With his hands, he pushed himself off and span so that he landed back on his feet.

He turned around and ran back to the small store. Luna was waiting with a surprised grin.

"That was cool, how did you do that?" CJ wrung his sweater again before holding it above the two.

"They don't call it Special Forces for nothing," CJ smirked. They ran out, crossing the street after a couple of busy cars sped past them. They finally made it to the apartment while laughing.

"Hey! Luna! You didn't even get wet!" CJ teased. Luna stuck her tongue out and tilted her head.

"Aww, you look so cute with your hair down like that!" CJ's hair was normally spiky, but the rain caused it to flatten a little, giving the impression that CJ had droopy ears like a dog according to what Luna saw. He smirked with a mischevious idea and shook his head in front of Luna, causing water to fly off of his hair onto her body.

"Ah! Chris!" Luna laughed. She gave him a playful shove after he was done, then kissed him.

"Bye Chris, I'll see you tomorrow!" She opened her apartment door and walked in, turning around to wave goodbye.

"Alright, see you later Luna! Love you!" CJ smiled, his hair was now back and spiky again.

"Love you too!" Luna yelled before the door shut. CJ smiled, looking back at the rain.

"This is gonna be fun to walk back in," CJ scoffed, talking to himself. He didn't even bother covering himself with his sweater; he walked in the rain with a content smile as he held on to the silver cross around his neck.

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This is dedicated to my girlfriend. I love you so much! And yeah, airsofting is so fun. I go with my friends a lot. Well, enjoy this small chapter. You're gonna need it for the next chapter.


	8. Murderers

THE NEON WAR CHAPTER 7 Murderers

Alright, away from all the lovey dovey and back to the fighting. Get ready for this chapter, it can get pretty graphic.

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"_He is my loving God and my fortress,_

_my stronghold and deliverer,_

_my shield in whom I take refuge, _

_who subdues peoples under me." –Psalms 144:2_

_#####_

Ash shoved the rations down his stomach while he had his chance, sitting next to Dimitri while they were handed out food. There were sitting under a medical tent, waiting for Eddie's results. Most were sitting on ammunition and medical crates dropped by cargo planes while the battle took place.

"Man, what is this kind of crap?" Dimitri grumbled while he looked at his strange looking food; there were sweet potatoes that looked like feces, and rice that was all meshed together in a clump. The only appetizing piece of food he saw was friend chicken. He played around with his food, using his spork to hold it up and look at it.

"Food, and it's supposed to go down your stomach," Robin said, stuffing the food down her mouth like Ash. Dimitri scoffed and just put his spork back down.

"You don't know the next time you eat, so eat as much as you can," Jimbo said, tearing open a rations bag.

"If you don't eat it, can I have it?" Ash asked, a piece of chicken hanging from his mouth as he turned around to face Dimitri. Robin laughed and smacked his male friend in the shoulder as he finally started to eat his food.

"Hey, Eddie has a fractured arm, but we fixed it and he's ready to go back into the fight," Jonsey said as he sat next to Ash, putting his piece of chicken down from his mouth onto his rations case. Ash raised an eyebrow, how does a fractured arm get fixed over a few minutes? Ash was about to ask how, but he decided against it. He didn't want to compromise his true nationality just yet, but then again, he still had food in his mouth.

"I'm grabbing some of these rations for later," Vic said, as he leaned against a tent pole. Ash scoffed, softly kicking his back gear that was on the ground. Besides ammunition and other equipment, rations can probably fit inside.

"This is some good fried chicken," Sanchez muttered, going through a third chicken leg.

"Well, an average soldier's supposed to have around two thousand calories a meal anyway," Corporal Pierce shrugged while he did the same as he leaned against a different tent pole. He grabbed a clump of rice with his hands and raised his head so that he could drop it in.

"Alright! Finish what you have and mount up! We're moving back to the fight, get ready," Sergeant Charlie said as he put a helmet over his shaved head. Ash gathered the rest of the food that he had in a small clump in his bag, and then finished it all with one massive mouthful of an assortment of food. All of the soldiers managed to finish it all and put on their battle gear and held their weapons in front of them, ready to fight.

"We're called to back up a food convoy for the eastern part of Vom; there are still some people left behind after the fight, and some are still stuck in the rubble and all," Sergeant Harper said as he walked through the medical tent with Eddie right next to him.

"Sup Eddie? How's the arm?" Dimitri smirked. Eddie laughed as he put his battle gloves back on.

"Good as new, those are some hot nurses back there," Eddie smiled.

"Hey, Harper, why are we called to do all the guarding work?" Robin asked, rotating her shoulders and carrying her rifle in the crook of her arm.

"Cause the bigger guys like us to do the dirty work. Besides, I agreed cause I don't want any whining about cramping stomachs," Harper glared specifically at Eddie, who chuckled.

"Can't be that bad, right?" Ash asked Jonsey. Jonsey shrugged,

"Shouldn't be. We should be going in with complete air dominance, all we have to do is just watch for mortar fire, or hungry armed citizens," Jonsey licked his lips. He looked over to Lance Corporal Pierce, watching him write a letter on a crate while he was putting food in his mouth.

"Hey man, that's bad luck," Jonsey said. "I thought you sent your letter already."

"This is for when I die man," Corporal Pierce smirked. He gave the note to a nurse, who gave him a tired smile and went back to treating another patient.

"I don't plan on that happening though."

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"_Alright, we're ready. The food is loaded into the trucks; you guys are our guards for this food. We don't want to have our own citizens angry at us now do we?"_ A voice spoke over the comm. devices that everyone had.

"Tell me, why are we here if we're using auto turrets and auto trucks?" Sanchez asked Ash bitterly; who was sitting on top of a massive bag filled with basic food necessities. They were in a large truck convoy, with five trucks filled with food.

"EMP. Besides, the drivers have to come along too anyway," Ash replied, adjusting his helmet. Sanchez scoffed and lay down on a bag. Jonsey was right next to Ash, checking his sub machine gun.

"Aren't you going to use that?" Ash asked, motioning to his abandoned .50 caliber sniper. Jonsey shrugged,

"Only when the auto turret's out." The automatic turrets were on the sides of the truck walls, each using a large armor piercing round with a high rate of fire. They swerved side to side, checking the streets and the roads in the tight urban Vom environment.

"Alright then," Ash said as he laid his sniper next to him. He reached behind his back to pull out his PDW, resting it on the crook of his arm. The sound of a bolt being pulled back and released was heard from around Ash.

"Whatever, I'm not going to be the one using a G-62 on top of all this flammable bags," Jimbo said, an AF-34 resting on his lap. Five of them were on the second truck, and they felt the trucks move.

"How far is the place?" Jimbo asked Ash.

"Would you guys stop with all these questions?" Corporal Pierce growled, "Watch for snipers Ash, get your sniper ready."

"Okay." Ash switched back, and rested his sniper in the crook of his arm. The first five minutes weren't bad; no enemy activity was being seen. After a few minutes, Lance Corporal Pierce spoke up.

"Hey, do you guys want to see a picture of my wife and two kids?" Corporal Pierce asked. Everybody except Ash moved over to see the picture that had his children.

"How old is she?" Sanchez asked.

"She just turned three, watching her talk makes my day every day," Pierce smiled. Ash was curious, but for some reason, he didn't walk over to see what the picture looked like.

"Your son's how old?" Jimbo asked, smiling.

"He's in third grade. He's smart and athletic, I'm gonna watch him grow up and be successful. He better be better off than I am," Corporal Pierce shrugged.

"Ah come on, you've got a nice wife and two kids," Jimbo smacked the corporal's shoulder.

"Yeah, but look where I am now. I'm in war for God's sake." After talking for a while they went back to their original spots.

"Alright, this is pretty easy," Sanchez commented. He was right, the streets were wider, and the buildings were easily visible. No enemies were supposed to be seen anyway. It was four more minutes in until an H-33 red jacket attack helicopter flew above them, watching their movements. Ash lay back, relaxing. That was, until they reached the shelters for the battle worn citizens. They rushed to the trucks, and immediately surrounded them. The malnourished citizens attacked the trucks, pounding on them for food and water. Thank God that the auto turrets didn't open fire on the civilian crowd from detecting violent activity.

"_Jesus,"_ Ash heard over the comm. device. From the first truck, he could see Vic raise his assault rifle to the air. He fired three shots harmlessly into the air, and started shouting over the crowd that immediately stopped from the fear of getting shot.

"We're going to do this in an orderly fashion, or else we're going to get no where!" In a matter of minutes, the citizens got in lines in front of each truck, each of them going away with a share of food. Ash was one of the ones that handled the smaller, individual bags. He handed them out, staring at the citizens' faces. Some were hate filled, some looked like ghosts, and others looked perfectly fine and thankful that food got to them. He watched as a small girl walked up to Ash. She was small, red headed with green eyes with two ponytails. She wore a small dirty orange dress that stuck out from the rest of the group, alone with a small puppy of what seemed to be a German Shepard. Ash smiled as he took his ration out of his backpack and kneeled down to the girl that was no more than six.

"Here, you can take a share back to your own family," Ash smiled. The girl grinned, showing a missing tooth. She handed Ash a small paper made flower.

"Thanks mister! You guys are my heroes!" The girl went back with a content giggle. The next man smiled as he took the bag from Ash without a word.

"We're almost done here, and then we go back to fighting," Jimbo said. He was right next to Ash, getting a bag from Sanchez, who was on the truck and handing down the bags. Ash didn't want to go back; here, he actually felt he was doing something good instead of killing. Right when he thought that, a hiss was heard along with an explosion that rocked the air. Ash turned around to look to see if any of the citizens were hurt, but realized the screeching metal of the helicopter was thrown against a building, causing it to break down into a dust cloud.

"_What was that?!?"_ Dimitri yelled over the comm. device. Ash watched as the dust cloud flew over the entire area. He then watched as an object from the sky fell and hit the middle truck. Thankfully, the truck was already empty and no one was near it. It hit the truck, sending the truck flying. It didn't explode, but a large blue pulse blew up and went through every single person and vehicle.

"EMP!" Jimbo yelled. Ash started to cough, and managed to see two flying jets that were flying side by side cruise high above them. They had backward wings, making the body of the plane look like a 'w'. They then broke their formation and started a dog fight up above with two fighters of their own.

The dust finally settled after a few minutes, and the citizens were looking for their close ones, wondering if anyone got hurt.

"Squad! On me!" Harper yelled out. Everybody grouped next to the first truck, along with a couple drivers and other soldiers that came along with.

"God dammit, my dot sight's out…" Jimbo mumbled.

"We're done handing out the food, now we're gonna move back into the fight. We're going to have to run there, our rendezvous with another squad is supposed to be at one of the streets to our left, over the shelters. Drivers, you go back and hurry with the soldier you came with. Tell the higher officers about what happened." The truck drivers and the soldiers did what they were told.

"Come on, we have no time to lose," Sergeant Charlie said as he started a jog. The rest of the group went with, going through the shelters. Once they got through, they were hugging the pavements and running through buildings that were barely standing. They finally met up with a convoy of tanks and soldiers that were heading north after five or so minutes of running. By this time, all the electronics were working again.

**2:00 PM**

"Where to sir?" Sergeant Charlie asked.

"There's a rally point up North, we're going to try to force the Neolian bastards out of Vom! We're almost done liberating the area, our airboys are almost done clearing the skies so we can punch through!" A Colonel said who had one hand on a tank while he had the other on his weapon.

"How far?" Sergeant Harper said as he ran next to them.

"It should be-" The Colonel never finished, the sound of screeching metal and an explosion rocketed through the large moving forces that were moving quickly through the streets.

"What's going on?" Sergeant Harper put a hand on his communication device.

"Artillery, they're going to try to bomb us out!" Ash said, stopping.

"Everybody move back! We can't do anything for now!" The huge group complied with the answer, and pulled back so the artillery wasn't raining death upon their forces.

"_Air force! Do something about that Artillery positions! We can't move forward without massive casualties without taking those shells out first!"_ The colonel said, his dark green uniform almost blending in with the darker gray urban area.

"_Willco, we'll do the best we can. Out."_ A pilot replied, sounding calm. The communication devices in every single person rang with the conversation.

"_This is command, we're sending over a four man team of Gauntlet attackers your way. Give them a few seconds,"_ Command spoke over the exploding artillery shells that were slowly getting closer.

"We might not have a couple seconds!" Jonsey said, one hand on his helmet while the other was on his weapon. His next cuss filled sentences were drowned out as four jets flew by from right to left. Ash lifted his head to watch the planes. They were in a line formation, and each popped their own flares. Anti aircraft guns were firing towards the attack jets, but were too slow for them. The first one opened fire, letting a payload of guided air to ground missiles rain death upon the Neolian forces that were too far to see. It also fired the massive gatling gun on the nose, the sound of a terrifying chainsaw filled the air along with more distant explosions. Right when the first one was finished, the second one popped flares and opened fire along with the other three in a V formation. The left one wasn't as lucky, it blew apart in midair from AA fire, but managed to kamikaze onto the ground along with its already jettisoned payload.

"_Dammit… This is Casket one, we've done what we can; returning to base to re-arm. Good luck ladies an' gents!"_ The pilot replied, returning to base with his fellow wingmen. The artillery stopped, giving the soldiers a large chance to move forward.

"Let's move! Come on! Come on!" The colonel motioned to his comrades. Everybody followed his order, advancing forward to finally try to stop this battle in the war torn city. They moved on, advancing with their allies at their sides. They stopped after two hundred meters, getting bombarded with bullets and shells from the defensive side. Ash and the rest of the Marines separated from the group, moving down a smaller street with a tank to flank out the bigger Neolian forces. However, they were met with heavy resistance.

"_Red building, fifth floor!"_ Sergeant Harper yelled out, using a laser on his weapon to point towards the enemy.

"_Roger, engaging!"_ The tank raised its large turret and fired a shell into the building. The team watched it blow apart, debris and people flying out of the guarded window that held people with heavy machine guns. The whole street was lit up with fire from both sides; the Neolians in their bunkers and urban defenses while the Aeonian Marines were using broken cars, rubble, and the tank as a cover point.

"_AT units on the rooftops! Take em' out!"_ The tank commander ordered. Ash and Jonsey both set up their snipers on the rubble simultaneously, picking off a team of Anti Tank individuals from the roofs. Ash stared down his scope to pull the trigger at every single silhouette that threatened to turn the war machine next to them into a hunk of road block. The Neolian soldiers all crumpled over and fell over, thudding into the ground. Protecting themselves weren't easy, any roof or any building could have been used to take out the tank in the long street.

"Split up! Sanchez, Dimitri, and Ketchup! Move into that building over there and use that place to help us secure the area!" Sergeant Charlie commanded the three while he fired his rifle at a soldier at a gun battery, making him fly back. The three moved to a five story apartment that had a nice overview of most of the buildings in the street. In the building were windows filled with Neolian personnel. They hugged the right sidewalk, running into the building. They were in a building like the first one that Ash entered, except that this one was more intact.

"Watch for explosives, I don't want to go from some lucky bomb with my name on it!" Dimitri said, aiming down his sights at the stairs and the elevator.

"Gotcha," Ash said. He let his sniper attach itself onto his shoulder. The metal on the sniper and the armor were partially magnetic, so the sniper stuck to his body. He pulled out his PDW, releasing the safety. His blood was pumping as he was between Sanchez and Dimitri as they headed up the stairs. Sanchez let his machine gun hang from his shoulder, he pumped his shotgun.

"First time close encounters eh?" Dimitri scoffed. Ash gulped.

They reached the floors separately. On the second floor, they silently moved towards the ends of the apartment to the set up defensive positions.

"Be advised, we are clearing the second floor," Dimitri softly spoke onto his communication device, slowly walking towards the large amount of Neolians that were firing their machine guns and assault rifles down below towards their friends. The gunfire drowned out the steps of the three's feet, and they both stopped right in front of the line of Neolians.

"Get fire down at that… oh shit," a soldier turned around, before he could finish, he and the rest of his friends that were there were shot to death. Dimitri fired his assault rifle from the hip, spraying at the enemies. Sanchez put his shotgun on auto, tearing up the others. Ash did the same as Dimitri, slightly horrified but hardened. He realized that it was necessary to kill these soldiers to keep his friends alive. He unloaded the large clip, hearing the silent 'Chak' as the clip ejected upwards and hit the ground.

"Second floor cleared! Moving to third!" Sanchez said on his communicator. He reloaded his shotgun, shoving shells into his shotgun. Ash pulled out another skinny magazine, fitting it perfectly back into where it was supposed to be. He palmed the ejector, shoving the magazine in. They moved up the stairs again. Once they reached the top, they heard a large explosion and watched the other end of the apartment fill with flames.

"_That one was on the house, go move up to the fourth!"_ The tank commander said.

"Thanks!" Ash said, taking point this time. He pointed his PDW up the stairs, and finally reached the top. It had a locked door, with no true visibility on who or what was on the other side. Machine Gun fire was slightly muffled by the door, but it was certain that someone was there.

"Open and kill anything?" Dimitri asked.

"Can we use a flashbang?" Ash asked while Dimitri and Sanchez hugged the wall next to the door. Ash decided to go behind Sanchez.

"How about this?" Sanchez said while he reached back and took out an explosive charge. Next thing they knew, the wall blew open with the charge, blowing away soldiers that were guarding the door. The three open up, laying fire down on the fire crews that didn't get fazed by the explosion.

"This is Ketchup, we have the fifth floor cleared. What do you want us to do now?" Ash asked.

"_You guys know what to do, you're marines! Be creative!"_ Jonsey said over the comm. device along with the sound of gunfire. Ash nodded to his two friends, who nodded back. The two ran over to see the gatling guns on the windows.

"Alright, one, two, three!" Sanchez and Dimitri picked up the black gatling gun and its tripod, moving it to another window so that it aimed towards the defending side. Once Ash reloaded his PDW, he switched back to his sniper rifle. Across the street, he picked off the dark blue armored defending units one by one. Through his sight, he shot automatic turret placements, hitting joints and wires that were weak spots on the other side.

"You think we can get them?" Dimitri asked Sanchez as he puts the belt in the feed.

"Trust me, when in doubt, unload the belt," Sanchez said, aiming the gatling gun at the oblivious Neolian soldiers.

"Alright, you're good to go!" Dimitri gave Sanchez a pat on the back. Sanchez held the trigger down, watching the barrel twirl for a second before letting out a roar of bullets. He aimed at the last building at the end of the street, a building that was in the middle of the forked roads. Dimitri found more ammunition boxes filled with belts, wrapping them over his neck and bringing them over to Sanchez. They unloaded belts and belts because of the weapon's high fire rate.

"_There you go! Cut then down!"_ Sergeant Charlie cheered. Through Ash's scope, he zoomed in at a target that just put a rocket launcher on his shoulder. He pulled the trigger, making him fall back and fire the launcher straight up onto the ceiling of where he was, the second to last floor. Smoke filled the floor, and blew the ground of the floor above it, causing some of the equipment and soldiers to fall down. Right when he did this, a hail of bullets started to fly towards their building.

"Ketchup! We need to go! This position isn't going to hold if we stay like this!" Dimitri said. Sanchez let the gatling gun fall, now empty. He turned to Dimitri,

"Come on, let's get out of here!" Ash was the first one towards the door, until a soldier tackled him over. In a flurry of punches and elbows, Ash and the soldier were on the ground.

"Fuck!" Dimitri said, Sanchez aimed his heavy machine gun at the two that were wrestling at the ground. Ash was getting crushed, obviously losing to the larger soldier, who just pulled out a knife. Dimitri took his chance, taking the butt of his rifle and slamming it into the back of the soldier's unprotected head. The soldier fell forward, but still had a death grip on Ash. Ash however, took his chance and kicked him off of him after prying his fingers off. As Dimitri was helping Ash up, Sanchez watched as the soldier tried to stand back up. He fired his heavy machine gun, making the soldier fall back down and jerk at every bullet that thudded into his body.

"You alright?" Dimitri said as he picked up Ash. He picked up his sniper rifle as he got up.

"Yeah, he almost got me there," Ash said, a bit spooked. He looked towards the soldier, his body filled with holes. His blood was starting to form a large dark puddle on the carpet, and made Ash sick at the sight of the deep wounds.

"Come on, we have no time for this," Sanchez said, pulling both of them down the stairs with him. Right when they get outside, another volley of bullets pepper the ground in front of the two before they run towards their cover.

"Ketchup! Give me a hand!" Jonsey yelled at Ash, laying prone on rubble. His body recoiled as he fired the sniper. Ash got down next to him; aiding him in taking down the most heavily defended positions.

"Move up! We can't stay here!" Sergeant Charlie said as he fired a burst from his machine gun.

"Keep going! Use the rubble as cover!" Jonsey shouted to the rest of the soldiers.

"Those auto turrets are fucking killing us!" Vic grit his teeth while he fired his rifle.

"Leave them to me! Just keep moving up!" Jonsey said. He fired once again, completely tearing off the pivoting part of the turret in a building to their left. Shells from the tank made a building collapse and reduce to nothing but more rubble, lessening the chance of threats coming from that position.

"Go! Go! Go!" Ash and Jonsey stayed behind, staying in their cover positions while the rest of the men moved forward. Neolian forces were using all they had in their arsenal; rifles, machine guns, and heavy weapons were raining down on the tank and the advancing troops. The gunfire was one of the only things besides the shots and the yells.

"_This is Blue Monday, we cannot, and I repeat, we cannot advance any further, damage capacity is near the limit. We're going to have to back out now-"_ The tank commander never finished. two rockets and trails of smoke hit the turret. The first rocket exploded on impact, but the second one penetrated the armor and exploded from the inside instead. The turret flew up from the explosion, landing right onto the bottom part of the tank and creating molten shrapnel that flew towards the soldiers. Luckily, all of the soldiers were safe. Except for one.

"AH! AH! JESUS CHRIST!" Corporal Pierce crumpled over, a large piece of the tank armor jutting out of his side, shoulder, and thy. He writhed around, dropping his weapon and falling down to the ground. Ash stopped firing to glance at the soldier that was at least two feet next to him.

"Corporal! Stay down!" Sergeant Charlie said as he kept one arm on him and kept the other on his weapon.

"Eddie! Help me carry Pierce to that building over there! Rest of you; give us covering fire on three! Ketchup, Jonsey! Keep your eyes peeled for any Neo bastards that might shoot us! Ready?!? One… Two…" The sergeant and Eddie pick up Vic, who was screaming a stream of curses and was bleeding profoundly.

"Three! Go!" The two get up, running through rubble and getting up from their foxhole to successfully run through the opening of a building that had a large hole at the side. Ash took his sniper, firing at the biggest threats as the rest of the group moved to the building to help. Jonsey pulled up his bipod, reloading his sniper rifle and turning around so that his back was against the small hill that provided as an area to place their snipers on.

"Hey! Ketchup! Give me covering fire and I'll cover you once I get to the building to come over, ready?" Jonsey patted Ash on the shoulder.

"Yea! Go!" Ash said, firing at every person that was hiding through the buildings that were trying to kill them. The group was now gone, so the threat was bigger, rockets flew past Ash and exploded behind him and next to him. Jonsey made it past, kneeling with his sniper along with Sanchez who started to fire his machine gun through a window at the buildings.

"Go! Ketchup! GO!" Ash took his sniper, putting the stock under his armpit and sprinting to the large gaping hole in the building. A rocket exploded behind him, and he felt his body propel forward as he landed face first onto the wood floor.

"Jesus! Ketchup! Are you alright?" Jonsey asked, picking Ash up while they retreated farther into the building. It was a small store, with a rooftop that was on the second floor, where soldiers already started fill go to. Every soldier except Sergeant Harper and Corporal Myers were up on the rooftop, fending off any Neolian threat that could explode the building. Corporal Pierce was hissing as the large piece of metal was pulled out of his side, clattering on the ground.

"We need to get out of here! We're sitting ducks!" Jonsey roared over the sound of Sanchez's machine gun.

"Let me fix him up! Give me five minutes!" Robin snarled, her medical equipment dropped the ground as she took off her backpack and opened it to remove medical equipment. She tore open the corporal's shirt, working on his wounds.

"This place is going to go down in five minutes!" Ash exclaimed, rubbing his nose.

"Call in air support!" Sanchez suggested.

"Can't! We've lost already too much air units to risk another one!" Sergeant Harper said, helping Robin with her work. Ash groaned, the corporal that was bleeding profusely and screaming could have been him.

"_Command! We've lost Blue Monday and have a critically wounded on our hands! Requesting immediate support and med-evac!"_ Sergeant Charlie's voice yelled over the communicator.

"_This is Elite Youth Sixth Division, Unit 24. Me and two other Mechas are on the way, we'll do the best we can to support you. How bad is he?" _A male voice calmly asked.

"This is Corporal Robin Myers, we need you to cover the two story store that's on the right side of the street! The wounded man is Corporal Walter Pierce! Five of his right ribs are broken and his lung is punctured, his arm is dysfunctional and is facing severe leg pain! If he doesn't get out of here soon, he's gonna be in trouble!" Robin said as she picked up Pierce and made him stand up straight and use his good arm to hold him up. His wounds were tended to, but he was still in massive pain and was bleeding.

"Suck it up marine!" Sergeant Harper yelled, picking up his rifle and heading to the rooftop.

"_Roger that. All Tiger units within my command, we are cleared to engage any construction besides the two story store next to the apartment building. Hang on marines, we'll be there in a minute."_

"_Unit 25 engaging,"_ A deeper voice said.

"_Unit 26 is engaging, both missile pods are hot,"_ A feminine voice exclaimed, sounding anxious and excited. Ash didn't have any time to watch, he was pulled up with Sanchez and Jonsey to the top. They rushed up the stairs, hiding behind a small chimney and a maze of air conditioners.

"Setting sniper point, cover me!" Jonsey said, exclaiming to Ash, who was on his right. He pulled out his bipod, putting it on a Y shaped like crook on the metal chimney. Ash was also busy though, he switched scopes from a long range scope into a less zoomed scope. With this on, he used it to fire it like an assault rifle. Jonsey fired the sniper repeatedly until he was out of bullets. He switched to his sub machine gun, trying to use it to fire at the defended positions. The rest of the group used everything in their arsenal to fend off the now offensive like defenders enough.

"_Unit 24, guns and missiles are away!" _

"_Unit 25, taking out the building at the fork. Cannons are working fine."_

"_Unit 26, emptying missile pods!"_ Three dark green mechas came from the left of the building, using other buildings as cover. One had a large under mounted like gatling gun on its right arm with a missile pod on the other. Another had two large cannons that had a slower firing rate than the gatlings guns, but packed more punch. The last one had large missile pods, with the coverings swung open.

A whole barrage of missiles streaked to the buildings, firing at the windows of the buildings. Large cannon fire also tore apart the structures that kept the forked building together, making it crumble to pieces. The same roar of the chainsaw sounding gatling gun fired on buildings. The shells seemed more like tiny bombs, each exploding on impact. After a continuous hail of bullets and missiles, the enemy finally retreated back, or gave up and came out of the buildings and surrendered. Only a few were able to retreat, and the ones that surrendered laid their weapons on the ground.

"_This is Unit 24, all weapons are spent. Unit 25 and I are heading back to base, Unit 26, I'm leaving these marines in your care." _Two of the mechas left, leaving only the one with the missile pods.

"_This town better be rebuilt, I just blew up my own apartment," _Unit 25 joked. Right when he said that, the building collapsed, reducing it into rubble.

"_Ay-yeon marines!"_ Unit 26 cheered **(AN: Ay-yeon is like Hoo-ah from the USMC). **The mecha walked over to the building, with the canopy opening. A girl that was no more than eighteen came out, helping Robin with putting Corporal Pierce into her mecha. After putting him safely into the mecha next to her, she turned back and walked back to where ever she came from.

"Ay-yeon bitches!" Jimbo said, rushing down and pointing his weapon at the surrendered Neolian soldiers. Sanchez and Charlie both kept their machine guns aimed down at the Neolians. Most of them were injured, bloodied and tired. Most of them were shot, barely keeping their eyes open. Their dark blue armor was strong, but the soldiers showed signs of internal bleeding. However, most

"Hands behind your heads! Now! Get down!" The Neolian soldiers did what they were told, with pained expressions. Ash had his PDW out; making sure that the barrel was pointed at the Neolians. The picture of intimidating soldiers that was stuck in Ash's head was gone, and the sight of these soldiers were forever burned into his head. These soldiers had kids like him, and these soldiers were like them.

"_This is Unit 26, I'm sorry to inform you about this, but he's gone. I'm sorry, I did the best I could to get him back, but something went wrong…"_ Ash put a hand on his communicator to make sure he was sure of what he was hearing.

"Unit 26, please come again…" Ash said, with a monotone like voice.

"_Lance Corporal Walter Pierce was killed in action. I'm sorry."_ The sad voice ended there. Ash dropped his left hand, dipping his head forward. He remembered the picture that the showed before. Dammit, why didn't he look at the picture?!?

"Did we have any orders to take prisoners?" Dimitri asked, gritting his teeth as he flinched his hand to motion with his gun towards the soldiers. The blue armored soldiers stared at Dimitri with fear. Ash turned to the soldiers, tears running down his face. Pure hatred was the only thing that was flowing through the minds of the Aeonian Soldiers.

"P-please, I'm only thirteen!" One soldier shouted. She had a bruised and torn face, with cuts over her cheeks and nose. Ash didn't even turn her way.

"Shut up!" Ash retorted, now holding his gun with both his hands. Jimbo reached back, letting his assault rifle attach to his magnetic armor and pulling out his multi purpose rocket launcher.

"You have to spare us; I have a kid back at home!" One soldier started to cry, bending forward from the pain coming from the wound in his stomach. Sanchez spat on the ground,

"Our friend had two!" Sanchez pulled the trigger, unleashing his machine gun's deadly rounds. Soon enough, everybody was firing their weapons, even Ash. The sounds of their bullets thudding against armor and their bodies were sickening, but they kept firing. Ash didn't even know what he was doing, his finger was tightly squeezed on the trigger and firing from the hip. The bodies of the Neolians were torn apart, falling to the ground and screaming. Jimbo fired his rocket launcher, causing a group of bodies to fly from the impact.

Even after their magazines were dumped, they reloaded and fired again. The bullets at this range pierced the armor and tore through their bodies and ripped limbs. Ash's body acted on its own, his mind was telling him to kill every damned Neolian soldier that was in front of him while his heart was begging him to stop. After his second magazine, he stopped, dropping his gun. He started panting, with tears still left on his cheeks. He watched his fellow soldiers, shooting dead bodies.

"Cease fire! Cease fire!" Sergeant Harper yelled while he fired his last burst from his carbine. The soldiers reluctantly stopped, staring at their destructiveness. Blood and body parts were everywhere, making Ash sick. Blood flowed like a river, flowing into a drainage area on the side of the road. He killed these surrendered soldiers, and he himself was no longer a soldier. He was a murderer.

"We have a distress call from one of the transport ships and we're supposed to move over there immediately. Come on," Sergeant Harper took out his magazine and threw it towards the dead Neolian soldiers. Not one of them was moving an inch, so Ash just shook his head and turned away disgusted with what he saw and what he did.

"_This is civilian evacuation transport number seven! We're being attacked by Neolian Guerillas and we're moving to a different route to the rendezvous point! Our escorts are gone and we need help!"_

"_Roger that, we're coming your way. Just hold out for a couple more minutes!"_ Sergeant Harper said, breaking into a run while he motioned with his arm to the rest of the group. Ash picked up his gun, putting it on his armor while he pulled out his sniper rifle.

"_This is Sergeant Harper, requesting transport to distress signal,"_ Sergeant Harper panted.

"_Roger that. This is Train, we're coming out of APCs to take your position. Give them a hand man."_ A large group of soldiers passed them up, coming out of the back of armored vehicles with machine guns mounted on the top. They boarded the APCs, running up the ramp to get into the compartment. They closed their doors, feeling the armored vehicles move with the tracks. Three APCs in total moved out of the front lines.

"_HELP US!"_ The voice of the driver of the civilian transport begged.

"_Hold on! We're coming your way! ETA sixty seconds!"_

"We can't-" A large beep came over the communication devices, signaling that the connection was lost. Ash looked at the other soldiers in horror, looking towards Jimbo, Jonsey, and a lot of other soldiers.

"Harper, I just lost vitals on the driver of the civilian transport, your group better haul ass!" Command yelled.

"This is Charlie, we'll take care of the guerillas, you guys look at the civilian transport. Ay-yeon?"

"Ay-yeon," Sergeant Harper pulled and released his bolt. Ash was in the APC with Jonsey, Harper, Dimitri, and Robin. The APC came to a stop and the ramp lowered so they ran out. The four lined up against a building before running through the rubble filled alley to get to the civilian transport.

"_Charlie here, we're engaged with the Guerillas. They're retreating but we'll clean up before we meet up at the last signal of the transport. Charlie out." _Harper nodded, taking point and nodding to the rest of the group. Nothing prepared Ash for what he was about to see once he got out of the alley. They stopped, freezing in their tracks once they got out. Ash moved forward ahead of the group, slowly walking like a dead man towards what he saw.

Ash fell to his knees, staring at the remains of what the civilian transport used to be. His eyes were wide with small pupils, his mind was only filled with the sight of the girl, and her limp, burned and cut arm was prodding out under metal and burning material. The arm led to an orange sleeve, but nothing was connected to that sleeve and arm. He coughed, and then felt his stomach turn upside down as he threw up. He fell forward, catching himself with his hands. He wiped his mouth with one hand, closing his eyes and trying to wipe his head with the view, but failed only to see the same girl back when he was providing food for them not long ago. He thought of the same paper flower that was crushed in his pocket, how something so innocent was destroyed. Tears ran down his face, shaking his head to get rid of his thoughts.

"How could this happen? How could I ever let this happen?!?" Ash yelled at himself. Jonsey stood a few feet away from him, clenching his teeth and his fists. The fire that came from the transport vehicle reflected in his eyes.

"What good am I if I can't protect these people…? **WH-WHY AM I HERE?!?**" Ash pounded the ground with his armored fist. His weapon lay next to him, reflecting the fire as well. The only thing that filled his ears was the silence of guilt and the crackle of fire. The rest of his group filed in, standing next to Ash as they also looked at the carnage.

"Those… **BASTARDS**!" Dimitri spat, throwing his helmet to the ground. Aeonian Marines were taught to keep their composure, but this sight after the death of a comrade was more than enough to push them over the edge.

"Fuckin' savages…" Jonsey hissed. Ash then raised his head, listening to a faint whimper that came from the wreckage. He quickly got up, ignoring the burning material that was burying whatever was making the noise. He picked up the pieces that could come off, and then fell to his knees again when he saw the sight of a small puppy that was burned on its side. It was lying down, whimpering and nudging the girl's dead hand. Ash slowly picked up the puppy that started to whine when it separated from its owner. Ash stared at it, the burns and the puncture wounds from the transport vehicle.

Ash then went over and picked up his weapon with his other hand, dipping his head forward and moving back to Robin.

"Can you help him?" Ash said, looking up at Robin with blood on his armor and the arm that cradled the injured puppy. Robin exhaled and closed her eyes.

"I'll… do what I can." Robin said as she took the puppy out of Ash's cold hands. He then dipped his head forward again, walking over to the limp arm of the girl. He took the paper flower out, now blood stained. He limply had his hands holding a weapon of war in one hand and a crumpled symbol of innocence in the other. He closed his eyes, putting the flower back in his armor, making sure that it was flattened correctly. He then opened his eyes to reflect the burning destruction in his dark orbs. He clenched his fists in silent fury, along with the other soldiers that stood standing there without say.

"Come on… We have to go." Sergeant Harper said with a cold voice. The others walked towards him while looking back at another horrendous casualty of war.

"Remember number seven," Ash muttered.

#####

Review please, constructive criticism is appreciated! I sort of added this chapter with the past one for a break from all this war stuff. Maybe I should've added it after this chapter, but whatever. E mail me if I should have, but till then!

CJ FANG


	9. To Take a Building

"_NO! ASH! Don't leave! Please! NO! Ash, I-"_

#####

"Wake up Ketchup, we've got work to do," Sanchez shook Ash awake. Ash groggily woke up; using a gloved hand to wipe the water he apparently had on his face.

"Only a dream huh?" Ash mumbled. He reluctantly picked up his sniper rifle and stood up, staring out of the building to the outside where the dawn broke through the sky through the black smoke of the battlefield.

_**NEON WAR CHAPTER 9 To Capture a Building…**_

Ash and the rest of the small squad ran to each of the buildings, sticking to the sidewalks and hugging the walls whenever they heard enemy air units fly over them.

"_Your orders are to eliminate the AA weapons that are stationed not far from you, Elite Youth soldiers have cleared a path, and your group needs to do the rest. I'll send a Ferret Unit and a Raptor Unit along with you, the Raptor unit will aide in getting through the Maverick defenses while the Ferret Unit will help you with the demolition of the AA weapons. Good luck," _The voice clicked off while they met up with two armored vehicles that drove right into the rendezvous point at an intersection at two streets. Six gray uniformed Raptor personnel and six other Ferret units. They moved into a small grocery store that was abandoned and wrecked from the collateral damage of the skirmishes.

"We meet again Marines, nice seeing familiar faces from before," Scout said, hitting the back of the armored vehicle with the butt of his gun. The APC took a right, turning so that it headed back to base.

"Alright, Command has told me that our satellite imaging is reading Maverick activity. Our raptor unit will take care of most of the Mavericks and we'll get you safely. You guys cover the ferrets, we'll cover you," Skye softly said, barely loud enough for the new squad to hear.

"There are four buildings that each have AA guns and SAM sites while a large group of artillery and more AA weapons are in the central park. We'll be taking care of one of the buildings, and we'll wait for the signals for other squads and attack the enemy site together along with air support," Scout said. He took out a PDA like device that projected a hologram of the attacking areas. Everybody crowded around, anxious to listen and hear. Ash noticed the dark haired boy with golden eyes once again; he looked on with the slightest interest.

"Our target building is the office building. It's the highest building out of the four. Once we get through that lobby, expect a lot of resistance."

"Don't worry about those bots, just aim for the central lens and you already took out one of their data chips. Don't get too close, they'll give off a small explosion on you if you damage them enough," Ryan walked up. He was sharpening one of his multiple knives while he watched them plan everything out.

"I'll take your sharpshooters and tell em what to do once we get to the sniper point. We'll move there now," One of the Raptor units said. Jonsey and Ash both looked away from the holographic image to take a glance at a girl that was near sixteen. She had a stronger looking advanced sniper weapon, shouldered onto his armor that used magnets to attach the weapon to the armor. She didn't even bother wearing his helmet, letting her dark long raven hair flow.

"Alright Molly, take care of them will ya?" Scout asked. The girl (Molly Carins. Age sixteen. Raven hair. 5' 10'') motioned to the two marine snipers.

"Follow me boys," the three ran out of the store, hugging the walls of other buildings. It took five minutes to travel a blocks to a specific building. It was another office building, but not as big as the objective building. Ash put two and two together once he saw the target building across the road. It was ablaze with fire, the building was a porcupine of bullets and missiles all combined in one lethal mess.

"We'll be providing sniper support and intelligence from this building, of course. We only reveal our positions once it gets heavy." A floating mechanaloid flew over, using a small silent engine to hover. It was an ammunition box, opening its sides and top to reveal the large assortment of magazines. One type of magazine had black tape, standard round. Another had red tape, Incendiary. Another had green tape, armor piercing. Another had blue tape, tracer round. The last kind had gold tape, incendiary armor piercing. All of these magazines came in different sizes, showing off the caliber type.

"Grab all of them; shove them into your gear. You two are gonna need it," Molly ordered. Since she didn't have any gear, the other two had to carry the rest of it.

"And you?" Ash asked, curiously. She smiled,

"Don't worry about me, I've got all I need," she stuck her thumb at the sniper on her back; it was the more advanced rifle that they had seen before they entered the fight.

"Ready?... Go!" The three entered the area with their small arms ready. The Raptor sniper held a .45 caliber handgun, pointing at anything that seemed suspicious at the lobby. The front desk was abandoned without surprise. The windows the buildings were all shattered from bullets or the super sonic capabilities of a fighter airplane.

"Let's go, up the stairs to the second floor." They made it to the second floor; luckily it seemed to be abandoned.

"Command, we need a scan on this building." Molly put a hand to her

"_Roger, sending a scan right now on your HUDs."_ The three flipped their HUDs over their eyes, watching the building being scanned. It went through thermal vision, the only three hot spots were the very three that were in the room.

"Kinda strange to leave an entire building abandoned huh?" Jonsey asked, flipping his HUD back into its place.

"The Neolians are cocky. Once the Mavericks come in, they don't even bother to think anymore," Molly unscrewed the sniper scope on her weapon, and then found a comfortable spot behind a cubicle. Ash and Jonsey did the same, all three of them were in decent spots with good view of the second and first floor.

"We're going to always be one floor ahead of them, so make sure that you can move freely," Molly said. Jonsey smirked,

"Kids," he adjusted his scope to see the soldiers at the lobby.

"_You wanna tell me what we're going up against?"_ Sergeant Harper's voice came onto Ash's communication device. He put a hand on his device,

"There are three guys behind the front desk, one automatic gatling turret in front of them. Two others are behind the lobby area, there are two pathways to the stairs and elevators," Ash's raspy voice spoke into the mic.

"Five mavericks, all of them are Hunter Galleons. It shouldn't be that hard. Watch out for the Cavity cannons, there's two of them on the bottom," Molly also added.

"_Roger, thanks for the intel. How much resistance is there on the second floor?"_ Scout asked.

"We can't see as well, but there's about three times more than what is on the floor. Watch out for those little mechanaloids, the whole place is crawling with them."

"_Well, time to go loud," _Ryan gave a cackle before all the communications shut off. The three watched their friends line up at the lobby, out of sight. The automatic turret swerved its head left and right, sweeping the area for any suspicious activity.

"Move over, this is my job," The crazy demolitions man whispered. He took out a sling, twirled it, and then threw it inside. The sling held a bomb that stuck to the area behind the automatic turret, it fired a few rounds before the entire area blew up and made the area go up into smoke. Darkblur used his boots and dashed inside the lobby area with growl.

"We're being attacked! Enemy number unkn-" The Neolian soldier never finished his sentence as Darkblur emerged out of the smoke, knocking him out and using him as a meatshield when the last Neolian soldier brought up his rifle. The human shield brought fear to the other soldier; he just couldn't bring himself to shoot at his fellow team mate. Darkblur rushed him, shoving his shield into his enemy and knocking him out with a single punch.

He rushed back into the smoke to see the red glare of the Maverick's eye, grabbing its head with his hand. He took out a beam knife with the other and cut the head off, pulling out wires and then kicking the move less heap of metal down to the ground. The four other Galleons were already firing into the smoke, using thermal imaging to fire upon the figure. Darkblur dodged the bullets and shoved a knife into the Galleon's torso area. He pulled the knife up, watching the beam cut through the metal like butter as he got his knife free by slashing upwards. The last three were taken out by Sergeant Harper, Sergeant Charlie, and Scout. The Galleons never fully could have comprehended what happened; the whole exchange took less than a minute.

"Jesus Christ," Ryan spat as the smoke cleared away. The dead bodies of the Galleons gave off smoke, and Darkblur walked out of the lobby area. The five gave off a slight explosion, not harming anyone in the process.

"Split up! Two groups to take both stairs!" Scout commanded as he motioned his comrades with his hand. Both of the stairs led to the same side of the second floor.

"_Alright, the people on the second floor are behind cubicles and set up defensive positions with automatic turrets, I suggest you throw an EM (Electronics Malfunction) grenade in there, There's an auto turret on the ceiling in the corner,"_ Molly's voice filled everybody's communication device.

"We're moving!" Molly motioned to her two sniper friends.

"EMG out!" Scout yelled as he reached the top of the stairs. The grenade gave off a blue shockwave that caused the Galleons and automatic turrets to malfunction. At the very top, Sanchez and Sergeant Charlie opened up on both of the stair openings, tearing through the surprised Neolian personnel that turned their way. One ferret soldier popped a grenade into the room, causing a large group of soldiers, which were hiding behind the cubicle, get thrown out of the area from the blast.

"Second floor clear!" Sergeant Harper shouted out, using a hand to push over the Galleons to the ground. Jimbo took his assault rifle and filled the automatic turret on the ceiling with holes.

"You guys no longer have the element of surprise, good luck!" Molly said. Again, they moved to the next floor. This one was a close call, one Neolian threw a grenade into the room but Ryan immediately picked it up and threw it back just in the nick of time. This floor was filled with anti tank material, and what the marines decided to do is to leave Jimbo, Sergeant Harper, Sanchez, Dimitiri, and Robin to wait for orders to use the Anti Tank weapons against the Neolians when the time comes.

"Forget the lower floors! Their defense is no longer there until the tenth floor!" Molly and the other two said as they went into the elevator to the tenth floor. Ash gave out a nervous sigh, setting down his gear and pulling out the green magazine and replacing the standard round magazine in his rifle.

"Look up!" Sergeant Charlie exclaimed, taking his machine gun and firing a short burst at a soldier that tried to shoot the Aeolians down below in the stair well. He fell back, never to be seen again.

"Go! I'll cover you!" Sergeant Charlie yelled out. The others ran up the stairs while Sergeant Charlie fired at the next three soldiers who also ended getting filled with holes.

"Grenade!" Skye yelled out, watching a small object fly over the ledge. She took out her pistol and shot it dead on, causing it to explode in mid air. The shrapnel caused everyone to duck, not a single shard hit any of them. The Neolian looked over the edge to see the end of a pistol as his last sight.

"How far up are you guys?!?" Molly asked, anxiously waiting.

"_Ninth floor! We're facing heavy resistance! Requesting sniper support!"_ Scout's voice calmly said.

"Roger, engaging!" Molly exclaimed. The laser fired from her sniper shot right through the glass into the side a soldier that was running to the door leading to the stairs. He fell over, limp from a hole that hit his heart. Ash fired his shot, aiming for a Galleon. The bullet flew right through its head and through the head of the soldier behind him. Jonsey was already on his third bullet by this time, taking down two Galleons. Molly's next shot was aiming at the automatic turret that was placed right in front of the doorway. She shot the pivoting joint, making the turret fall from one of its most important parts. The soldiers were looking around in panic, firing their guns to their building. Ash ducked down into his cubicle, luckily, they had enough time to barricade themselves in with various metals and thick books.

"Clear for entry!" Molly said as she ducked down too, shaking her left hand from the heat that was radiating from her sniper.

"_Roger! Watch your eyes!"_ A bang was heard; Ash recognized it as a flashbang grenade. He rose back up, but gasped to see all of the soldiers and Galleons already down and out.

"_Jesus Christ, you scare the hell out of me Boots,"_ Ryan cackled. The figure in the middle turned around with a death glare,

"_Don't ever call me that again… ever." _Two ferret members ran in while shouldering their weapons.

"_We've got new orders; we're going to use this equipment against the Neolian bastards!"_ Scout yelled into his comms.

"_My buddies and I are good at using Neolian equipment, leave it to us. Just two more floors right?"_ Ryan asked.

"Sorry! I'm kinda busy!" Molly said, standing back up to fire a bright crimson laser at a flying machine that was charging a shot that was aimed towards the snipers. Ash grit his teeth as he dropped his magazine and fit in the closest magazine near to him, the tracer. He stood up and fired a bullet into a Galleon's head right before he allowed it to fire a laser that could have killed him. He watched the piece of junk fall before he went back to cover to hide himself from plasma rounds.

"We've gotta move!" Jonsey shouted, firing an incendiary round at a cavity machine, causing it to explode in mid air.

"Right! The last two floors are all mavericks! Mind doing me a favor and getting rid of those bastards for me!?!" Molly asked.

"_Move,"_ Darkblur said as he dashed up the stairs. Ash managed to see catch a glimpse of what he was doing. He gaped at his speed, every single slash and bullet hit its mark with precision as well. He hip fired an LAR while he hacked away with his beam knife. What surprised him were the look of pure hatred… and the look of utter contempt at the same time. His attitude towards human life was no where as close to his standards for the Mavericks.

"_Go! This floor is clear!"_ Kurois barked. Molly smacked the back of Ash and Jonsey, motioning them to run. They ran up the metal stairs once again. Ash thanked whoever was above for giving him the trainer endurance he had in his pokemon trainer times. Once he got out of the door to the next office, his face went blank. This blank white floor was absolutely empty, no cover at all.

"We're going to have some problems," Jonsey gulped. Molly however, went right to the edge of the ledge with the shattered glass.

"They're not getting anywhere without our help!" Ash sighed and ran forward. He knelt right at the other end of the office and fired his tracer round. The bullet left a streak and left a hole into an Assault Galleon, the one with the arm slasher. It dropped to the floor, along with other Galleons. This time, they weren't focusing on the soldiers running up the stairs, but on the snipers.

"FUCK!" Jonsey shouted as a plasma round hit his shoulder, disintegrating his shoulder padding. He ripped it off before it could eat away at his skin and fired right back at the Maverick that shot him.

"Bazooka Galleons! Get back!" Ash shouted in horror. The three immediately got up and ran to the door, closing it just in time with Ash as the last one in.

"Get down!" Molly took Ash's head and pushed it to the ground onto the steps. The explosion was still big; it blew the door open and flew right over their heads. The three look up and checked themselves if they were alright.

"_You three have done enough! Leave the rest to us!"_ A ferret soldier shouted. Ash was gasping for air, blood trickling down his face from a cut that passed him by inches. Jonsey grunted,

"That could've taken my head off, someone up there still likes me," Jonsey threw away his spent up magazine.

"_Last floor clear! Moving to roof!" _

"I love you guys," Molly sighed. She ran up the stairs to get to the roof, shouldering her weapon. Ash turned his head to see a waiting aerial vehicle hovering next to them. It was a green Hummingbird, a small personnel carrier that also held light weapons for short runs. (Think of a hornet from Halo, that should spark some imagination). Double miniguns along with missile pods were on its sides. More importantly, it was an improved version of a helicopter. Its blades were replaced with two wing-like objects that held two small rocket engines. On the sides were places to sit and handles to grab onto. The canopy of the Hummingbird slid backwards and showed a man with a blue HUD system over both of his eyes along with a green helmet.

"_Your buddy there's one crazy son of a bitch!" _The pilot shouted as Molly got into the passenger seat right behind the pilot's seat. Molly smirked,

"_He's one crazy son of a bitch alright!"_ Ash and Jonsey sat onto the seats and held the handle with one hand. They held their weapons with the other. The pilot flipped a switch on his operating panel. Back out there, they felt a magnetic force attach their armor to the Hummingbird; the only good thing the handle was for was balance.

"_Hang on!" _The airplane lifted itself up, and then started its way to the park, where all of the artillery was. Before anything else, he managed to get a short look on his friends. They were manning the Neolian Anti Air weapons on the roof, now using it against the ground forces.

All four anti aircraft buildings were taken out, and only a few soldiers with their weapons were left down below with their artillery pieces. Jonsey took his weapon and fit in a gold taped magazine, the armor piercing incendiary round. He shot a mecha that was below on the torn up dirt, causing it to explode and take out a couple soldiers along with him. Ash also took out a gold taped magazine. He grew frustrated as he figured out that he had to pull the trigger with his left finger and cradle his sniper with his right hand.

It looked like they didn't need his help though; other Hummingbirds flew in and opened fire along with their own. Ash felt the vibrations of the gatling guns, watching as the bullets tore through enemy personnel. He watched as missiles pounded into the now abandoned artillery pieces; Neolian soldiers and Galleons were now trying to retreat, but were surrounded by Aeolian forces.

"_We're back in town you bastards!"_ The pilot fired another volley of his missiles, firing specifically at the Galleons.

"_Heads up! All pilots, they Galleons have brought something with them! Flying Galleon units have arrived for enemy reinforcements!"_ Molly spoke to the air force. Sure enough, Ash caught sight of a green ray of light fly towards the sky before it split into a 360 degree angle and covered the artillery area. Missiles and bullets hit the barrier, but only caused little ripples on the surface. From the inside, Neolian soldiers picked up their remaining weapons and fired up into the sky towards the Hummingbirds. Their bullets were still able to fly through from the inside of the dome; it was nothing they had ever seen before.

"_Ground forces! Use those AA weapons against the Galleons! Make it quick, they'll tear us apart if they get close!" _The pilot shouted with no time to figure out what to do with the Neolians below. Ash grit his teeth as he rose up his arm and fired a single round into the first Galleon that was coming. It clipped his wing, causing him to fly towards the ground and explode on the dirt below. Flak rounds exploded in the air, taking out a majority of the mavericks right away. Unfortunately, a lot of the Mavericks got through the defenses and took down a lot of Hummingbirds. It was too late to save most of the Hummingbirds; even through they used their weapons against them. The plasma and their missiles tore through the canopies and the vulnerable engines on the sides.

"_Get us out of here, we need to regroup!"_ Molly shouted. The pilot was more than willing to comply, turning around and flying back to the building that was captured by the marines. The three get off, and then wave the pilot goodbye as he needed to re arm."

"Miss us?" Jonsey laughed while he set up his bipod. Sergeant Charlie just shook his head and reloaded his large machine gun. Immediately, Ash went to the edge and found a nice area to set down his sniper rifle. He ended up kneeling down next to Darkblur, who was firing away on his Laser weapon. Ash aimed down his sights and fired two rounds before he heard the pounding of artillery. He looked down through the blurry dome to see the artillery pieces turn towards one of the taken buildings.

"They're using the artillery to take down the buildings! We need to get off this thing _now_!" Ryan shouted, getting off the Anti Air weapon.

"Sergeant Harper!" Ash yelled into his communication device.

"I know! We'll evacuate, you guys stay up there and wait for the Helicopters to pick you up!"

"This is 6-5, I'm coming in with two other helicopters and you better haul ass!" Sure enough, the helicopters came.

"Go! Go! We'll cover you guys, get onto the helicopters!" Molly spoke for the three snipers. Jonsey took cover from a burst of plasma shots, dropping his sniper rifle and letting it fall to the floor. He whipped out his sub machine gun and used all the bullets to take down a single flying Galleon that was coming his way. He reloaded, and then picked up his sniper to fire another round into a Galleon that was on its firing run. The Ferret soldiers from below ran up the stairs and filled the first helicopter and they flew away to a safe distance away from the fight.

The second helicopter came in with difficulty, but was filled with the remaining marines as they realized that taking down Mavericks wasn't their forte.

"Come on Eddie! Get your ass over here!" Sergeant Charlie said as he manned the laser gun on the helicopter. He stopped what he was doing, looking towards the helicopters. Ash looked also, but then realized what was coming his way.

"Eddie!" Ash yelled out, but it was already too late. Private Eddie Gibbons was at the end of a firing run from a Galleon, using its automatic plasma arm cannon. He tried to raise his gun, but a plasma round hit his stomach. He exhaled and fell to the floor before the rest of the plasma rounds filled his chest. Ash looked away and cursed before looking again at his body. This time, he wasn't getting healed.

"Jonsey!" Sergeant Charlie called out to him. He shouldered his weapon then grabbed his body bridal style before reaching the helicopter.

"It's too hot! Kethchup, go with the Raptors alright?!?" Sergeant Charlie yelled out.

"Yes sir," Ash said loud enough for him to hear. They took off, leaving Ash with the Raptor division, holding back until the time came.

"Endgame! The other three buildings are gone! We're next!" Skye yelled out as she ducked down to reload her pistols.

"The last helicopter's here! Darkblur, man the gun!" Scout yelled in repliance as he fired a burst into another Galleon. He dashed towards the helicopter, jumping into the area and taking over the laser cannon on the side of the air craft.

"We've gotta move!" The Ash and the Raptors slowly backed up, but were easily pinned down every second. The only thing that provided them cover was the Anti air batteries set up on the roof.

"Go! They're coming around for another pass, come on!" Darkblur yelled out as he fired repeatedly. Each shot took down a Galleon, but the problem was the slow firing rate. The red lasers came out at a slow 120 rounds per minute. The last Galleon was taken out, but then the building rumbled as the shells took down the base of the building. They felt themselves fall at an alarming rate and ran faster to the helicopter. All of the Raptors made it, but the farthest away was Ash. He sprinted with all he had, but the building fell faster.

"ASH! Jump for it!" Ash threw down his sniper rifle, then leapt form the rubble to the helicopter. Everything then went into slow motion for Ash; the only thing he heard was his own heart beats as his hands were almost there. He widened his eyes as he realized that he started to fall, but then everything returned to normal when Darkblur extended an arm and grabbed onto his hand.

"GO!" The pilot moved, flying with Ash still dangling from Darkblur's grasp. Scout helps him bring Ash up into the helicopter, patting him on the back.

"Are you okay?!" Darkblur yelled over the blades of the helicopter.

"Ye-yeah!" Ash said, gasping for air once more. He sat down on a seat, taking off his helmet and putting his hands to his head. Darkblur patted his back.

"I could've taken it down," Ash said. The rest of the Raptors looked on with pity.

"No, it was already in motion. Eddie was marked for death right when that Galleon started firing," Darkblur said, "It's not your fault."

"I could've at least blown off his-"

"No! Stop thinking like that, people die and people live to tell the story, that's all there is to war. You can't change who lives and who dies," Darkblur said with a grave tone. Ash looked up, and then closed his eyes as a pair of tears ran down his face. He fit his helmet back in with a fiery pair of eyes filled with revenge.

"Sergeant Harper," Ash croaked.

"_I heard it all. We're heading back to base, we need to retreat."_ Ash exhaled and clenched his fists. By this time, all of the Raptor soldiers looked away, all except Darkblur. He sat across from him and took out a pair of rectangle like glasses. He closed his eyes and laid his head backwards, falling asleep in a matter of seconds. Ash bent forward, sighing.

"Latias, I'm sorry. Forgive me for doing what I do…"

#####

**Two days later…**

"Hey! Get back here you little…!" Dimitri was chasing a puppy Shepard who was running away with a piece of meat hanging from his mouth. Ash could only chuckle at the sight of Dimitri kicking dirt to chase the dog.

"I can't believe we managed to sneak him onto this base," Robin said, who was sitting next to Ash at a set up table. They were under a green tent to shade them form the sun. All of them had their helmets off and were dressed into their off battle clothes, dark green T shirts and dark green cargo pants with a black temperature comfortability jumpsuit underneath.

"Dimitri, let him have the meat, I'll give you mine," Ash said. The others looked with surprise,

"The last thing I expected you to do is give away your own food," Jonsey said as he fit a sporkfull of mashed potatoes into his mouth. Ash grinned,

"Hey, he's still human," Vic said. He laid back and threw his spork onto the empty plate.

"Just because you got a promotion doesn't mean you have to show pity on me Ketchup," Dimitri scoffed. The German Shepard ate its meat and wagged its tail with happiness.

"Just one promotion doesn't change anything," Ash said. He picked up his meat with his hand and threw it onto Dimitri's plate.

"Hey, anybody know when we go out again?"

"I don't know, that last mission we had really pleased the upper guys. We might go soon," Sanchez guessed. The German Shepard puppy just looked on with interest. He sat down right next to the opening of the tent flap, wagging his tail.

In a second, Sergeant Harper and Sergeant Charlie walked in. They looked down to see the puppy wag its tail at them as it turned around. Sergeant Charlie picked up the puppy by the fur and raised it up with a single hand. Its legs were dangling, and the puppy started to whine. He took the cigarette in his mouth and turned the puppy around so everybody else saw. The soldiers that were eating stood still, waiting for Sergeant Charlie to bark at them about the rules of the base.

"Cute dog. I like him," Sergeant Charlie grinned. He handed it to Sergeant Harper, who correctly held the puppy.

"I don't know how long we can keep him though, they'll find him eventually."

"So… you guys aren't gonna start yelling at us about base rules and everything?" Robin asked curiously.

"Psh, we used to be privates and corporals like you guys," Harper said as he let the puppy run to Robin. The others sighed with relief, happy that their little new friend could stay. The puppy raised its head, sniffing before it ran off out of the tent.

"Hey!" Ash said, getting up. He quickly stopped as he stood at attention with a salute as Gunnery Sergeant Dean Coles stepped into the tent. Everybody else got up and saluted him, shocked that he came at such short notice.

"Was that a puppy I just saw?" Coles said with a gravelly like voice. Ash gulped,

"This base does not keep animals, this ain't no zoo! Get rid of it or else some idiot's going to kill it for food," Coles walked out.

"Awww, I'm gonna miss that puppy," Robin said. As if on cue, the puppy ran back in after he walked out. He whimpered as he sat down and looked at the soldiers, as if wondering what they were going to do next. He ran up and started to nuzzle Robin's leg.

"You take care of him, I don't want to end up crying like a little boy letting go of his dog," Vic turned away.

"I don't know what to do with him," Sanchez raised his hands up and sat back down.

"I heard that they're good when they're fried-" Dimitri got a smack from Robin.

"I have no idea of what to do," Robin said. They all turned to Ash.

"Oh come on," Ash groaned.

"Can't we keep it longer?" Jonsey asked the sergeants. The two shook their heads,

"Sorry, as much as I want to, Coles is right. He's gonna end up getting killed for food if we don't be careful enough." Ash gulped.

"Poor dog," Sergeant Charlie said. Ash went over and cradled the puppy,

"Fine… I'll find a way to get-" The puppy ran out of his hands, bounding away outside the tent.

"Hey! Get back here!" Ash ran out. The rest of the soldiers looked on as he ran off.

"He's still a kid," Robin sighed. The sergeants nodded,

"Yeah, but I wanna keep the dog too," Harper said as he put a cigarette in his mouth.

######

Lily Crystaline had her blue hair tied up so that it was folded onto the back of her head, walking down the small home base with her hands behind her back. Her crimson uniform stood out amongst the dark green uniforms that surrounded her. The sun was out with clear blue skies, beating on the soldiers that were trying to relax.

"Now, Cyphrus told me Ash was supposed to be here. I wonder…" Lily said, taking out a small device that projected a transparent green screen with white lettering. She walked past two tents before looking down at the screen again.

"This should be the-" Lily stopped short at the barking of a small dog that was bounding towards her. She widened her eyes at a German Shepard with folded ears.

"Hey! Get back here!" Lily looked up to see Ash with his short hair run and pick up the dog. He held it while the dog was wagging his tail and smiling with his tongue out towards Lily.

"Man, you really have a thing for ladies don't ya?" Ash asked. It took him a second before realizing who that certain girl was.

"L-Lily?!?" Ash said, not even bothering to give her a salute.

"Good to see you again Ash, you're still in one piece," Lily smiled. She looked over at the dog,

"You do know that dog isn't allowed to be here at base right?" Ash gave her a sheepish smile,

"Oh no, he doesn't live here. He wanders around and always comes back when the higher guys go away. Smart dog," The tan and black German Shepard barked as if to acknowledge Ash's comment.

"Where did you find him?" Lily asked. Ash's smile disappeared, looking down at the dog in front of him.

"He was with a girl in one of the transports that got attacked. They all died and this guy's the only one who survived," Ash said with his expression hardening. The dog kept wagging his tail, oblivious of the seriousness of the conversation. Lily frowned,

"I see… What are you going to do with him?" Lily asked. Ash then looked back up and blinked at Lily.

"I haven't thought of that…" Lily smiled, extending her arms. Ash looked at her hands then back at her face.

"You want to hold him?" Lily nodded,

"I love dogs. They're so loyal and they're the best inhuman friend you can have. Well, except for pokemon of course," Lily said. Ash slowly handed her the dog, and Lily carefully held up the dog to her face, examining the dog with her hands under his legs. The German Shepard blinked at Lily, his tongue was back in his mouth and his head tilted to a side. Lily giggled,

"I like him. What's his name?" Ash scratched his head,

"We haven't given him a name; his tags were gone when we found him." Lily's smile got bigger,

"I get to name him then," Lily took a glance at his color, "August. I'm gonna name you August." The dog smiled and barked, already used to his new name. Lily turned to Ash while cradling the dog in her arms.

"Since he might get killed or left alone, I'm going to take him back to base. Is that okay?" Lily asked.

"Yeah, I guess. I was getting told to get rid of him somehow," Ash uncomfortably said. Lily smiled,

"Well, mission accomplished right?" They both laugh and walk together.

"I came here to check up on you personally. Looks like you're doing physically fine, how are you feeling?" Lily asked. She sat down on a chair under a camouflaged shroud that acted as shading. Ash sits down on a crate next to him,

"It's hard to be a soldier," Ash sighed, leaning back. Lily nodded.

"I know. But you're almost done with your Marine job, next comes the Elite Youth." Lily scratched August behind the ears while he started to doze off on her crossed legs. Ash frowned,

"Then I have to kill more people…" Lily sighed.

"Ash, I know it's hard, but you'll be mostly assigned to Maverick Elimination missions. But you need to realize that killing here is for a just cause," Lily gave Ash a hard look. Ash then looked up through the camo shroud and sighed also.

"Yeah… but how much killing do we have to do in order to do what's right?" Lily gave Ash a tired smile,

"A lot, Ash. We've been working on that for a while now. It's okay, we're all in this same mess together. Don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, you need to grow stronger for Latias right?" Ash closed his eyes, smiling as he fantasized about what he was going to do for his crush once he returns.

"Yeah… I can't wait till I get back…"

"Then you can get out of this endless war and live the way you want to live over at the Pokemon world," Lily said. Ash then stopped smiling.

"This war isn't endless. We can stop this." Ash bent forward and put his elbows on his knees. Lily's face cracked into a determined smile.

"That's what Biometal is for isn't it?" Ash asked, raising his head. Lily nodded.

"Yeah, of course. We can put an end to all this fighting eventually." Ash stood up, making Lily look up at him. August woke up and looked up at his previous master too.

"Lily… I'm not leaving until this war is over," Lily looked at Ash with a hard look.

"Ash…"

"Tell Cyphrus I said hi... Oh, and by the way, I like the new look," Ash gave Lily a smirk before walking out of the area to where the powder dirt from the ground blew against him. Lily sighed a little before looking towards Ash's direction.

"That determined look… he's growing up." She scratched the dog's head and walked off.

"I _do _like this new look." Lily giggled.

#####

For the first quote part, look at my other story for information.

Oh, and Lily's new look involves her folding her hair and using a small clip to keep it all together behind her head. Think of Riza Hawkeye from Full Metal Alchemist, it's sorta like that. Thanks for reading, or thanks for staying loyal to my work if you are… maybe not.

Till next time!

CJ FANG


	10. Jailbreak!

_Ehehe… well, I guess I should be working on my stories, but I'm getting kinda lazy, hehe… (Lily and Kara both cross arms behind me with icy stares)_

_It… it can continue later… (laughs nervously) right? (Laughs nervously again) I have time! Yeah, I've got time-_

_(Gun cocks and Ray's dagger pops near my neck)_

_Oh God! Oh God! Okay! Okay! Don't hurt me! I'll do it!_

…

Yep. That was my motivation. Well, here's the next chapter!

#####

"_Ow!" A small boy with short red hair and dark red eyes fell on his bottom onto the grass with a fencing sword next to him. A smaller girl with the same features held her hips and laughed in a triumphant matter._

"_See? Girls _are_ better than boys at fencing!" The boy puffed out his cheeks; he knew that he had no excuse. In fact, the boy's been taking fencing classes longer than the girl._

"_I'll beat you! Don't get too cocky!" The boy picked up his sword and pointed it towards the girl. The girl smirked and did the same._

"_You're still saying that after five wins in a row from me?" _

"_Mari! Cyphrus! Come on you two, if you're gonna fence, don't do it in the middle of the park!" The boy and girl grunt and rolled their eyes at the slightly larger boy who just walked up a grassy hill to meet them. He had a bag of groceries in one arm while his free hand brushed a hair from his face. His hair was long, coming down to his shoulders. It was in a ponytail, and his bangs were large, but kept out of his face._

"_Fine Ethan!" Cyphrus stuck his tongue out at Ethan, who took out an apple from his bag and threw it at the Cyphrus's head. It hit its mark with a 'tok' and made him fall backwards._

"_Why am I getting beat up by both my siblings?" Cyphrus cried. Mari laughed, picking up both her sword and her big brother's._

"_What did you get big brother?" Ethan sighed,_

"_The usual groceries. Dad's out for work so I decided to grab some stuff to cook. Wanna help out today Mari?" The girl with short hair ecstatically ran to her big brother._

"_Really?"_

"_Yeah, it's a girl's job anyway," Cyphrus said as he rubbed his forehead and looked at the two. Mari fumed and picked up another apple and threw it square at his face. Cyphrus fell back again, this time with a big bump at the same place where Ethan threw an apple from before._

"_I'm getting tired of getting beat around," Cyphrus said. He pouted, but then his expression softened as he laid down and stared at the sky. _

"_Hey, it's cloudy today." Mari and Ethan both look up and smile._

"_Yeah, but we can still see the blue," Ethan said as he sat down. He set down the groceries and sat down on his brown trench coat. Mari hugged her knees and adjusted her jeans and her shirt. Cyphrus just zipped up his orange and white sweater._

"_Just the way we all like it," Mari grinned. They watched the clouds move fast as the breeze rustled through their hair._

"_Well, shouldn't we be going?" Mari asked._

"_Yeah, but can't we just enjoy this?" Ethan asked._

"_Yeah, I want to."_

"_Well, you can't Cyphrus." Cyphrus sat up and looked at him._

"_Wha?" Ethan gave Cyphrus a grin,_

"_You've got to wake up cause the treatment on your injury is now done." Cyphrus stared at Ethan before slapping his forehead._

"_Damn it."_

#####

Cyphrus groggily walked out after the doors of the medical aid room slided into the wall.

"_You were out cold there for a moment,"_ Model C said as he floated next to him. Cyphrus scratched the back of his head. He groaned, not replying.

"_Well, you should be more careful next time."_

"Jeez, how was I supposed to know that a Galleon was right behind the corner?" Cyphrus muttered. His spiked red hair rolled as he walked down the corridor. He rubbed a burn on his shoulder, hissing as he felt the plasma mark.

"_I told you,"_ Model C said as he floated next to him. The two were walking down a gray metal hallway, passing by soldiers and other personnel. Cyphrus didn't even bother suiting up; he wore a casual dark red T-shirt along with dark red cargo pants with his jumpsuit underneath.

"Then speak up!" Cyphrus flicked the piece of floating biometal. The face on the biometal seemed to look on with a glare.

"_Listen!"_ Cyphrus grumbled and crossed his arms. He saw a girl walking down the hallway, smiling as he saw his fellow team mate and girlfriend.

"Who's this little guy?" He extended a finger and scratched below the puppy's chin. The puppy licked his finger, unaware that his entire arm was a metal prosthetic. Cyphrus laughed. He took a step closer and kissed Lily on the lips briefly before separating.

"A friend that Ash picked up on a mission," Lily said. She said, letting the dog jump from her arms onto the ground.

"Name?" Cyphrus asked, squatting down with a smirk at his look.

"August," Lily told him. Cyphrus shrugged,

"That works, I like the name," He said as he stood back up. Lily motioned to his shoulder,

"What happened?"

"_A Galleon took him off guard when I told him to stay sharp,"_ Model C said as he floated next to them both. Cyphrus scratched the back of his head. Lily laughed,

"You can't stand one mission without me can't you?" She giggled. Cyphrus shrugged,

"Guess I need two people nagging me in a mission to make sure I don't make any mistakes."

"_Yes, you do need two people. Oh, is that dog house trained?"_ Model C asked. The two look at each other before realizing that the dog lifted a leg and started to pee on the wall. The two sweatdrop before Lily came down and smacked the dog upside the head.

"Bad dog!" Lily said. The dog stopped and whimpered with a puppy face.

"Oh come on, you may look cute, but you don't fool me," Lily said. She evilly smiled at the dog. The dog seemed to shrink at her look.

"Discipline is how I'm going to raise you, now. No peeing on the walls, understand?" Lily asked, motioning to the handgun on her belt. The dog shook its head in compliance, scared out of its wits. Cyphrus and Model C looked at Lily with a scared expression as she rose back up as her usual self.

"I'm going to like August," Lily said as she walked over to her living quarters.

"_Your girlfriend scares me,"_ Model C sniggered. Cyphrus sighed,

"That's Lily Crystaline for ya." Cyphrus then shot his head up and forgot of the reason why he sent her in the first place.

"Lily! Wait!" She turned around, blinking as he caught up with her.

"How's our Ash doing?" She thought deeply, and then sadly smiled.

"He's… going to be okay, he's doing better than I thought," Lily said as she cradled August in her arms. Already, he yawned and started to doze off in her arms.

"I hear he's a sniper now," Cyphrus says as he crosses his arms.

"Yeah, top shooter in his class," Lily said, scratching August's head.

"First?" Cyphrus asked with a smile.

"Ash has never operated a weapon before and naturally picked it up. Weird huh?"

"Yeah," Cyphrus shrugs.

"Maybe he can even rival me… Nah," Lily stuck her tongue out as they started walking to the barracks.

"That reminds me, our third man open slot in our unit hasn't been taken. We're going to be on more covert missions now," Cyphrus retched and let his arms fall out of his crossed position.

"That's great…" Lily sighs also.

"Ah well, more alone time for us two eh?" Cyphrus elbows Lily and earns a nudge from her shoulder.

"Oh please, keep your hormones down doggy," Lily jokes.

"Ouch," Cyphrus says as he walks on with her down the hallway. They both turn as fast foot steps reach them with a messenger boy at age 13 stopped and saluted both of them.

"Sirs," he stood up straight. Cyphrus and Lily both eye the PDA in the hand that was against his side.

"At ease buddy." The kid loosens up before taking his PDA and touching a part that releases a hologram. It had the city of Vom, in detail.

"Hey Cyphrus, command wanted me to assign you two another mission. He's busy so he asked me to brief you two," the boy said. He also had a dark red uniform and a black beret.

"Go on," Cyphrus says while watching the small hologram show the advancing Aeonian forces and the small soldiers that were fighting on the battlefield.

"We're close to the end of liberating Vom, just a couple more areas and we'll fend them off. Word is that they found a prisoner camp and we're going to liberate them before they get transferred."

"A prison?" Cyphrus asked. He watched as the boy used his fingers to pinpoint the building that was far behind enemy lines.

"Here. POWs and other people are shoved in here, anyone who dared to not cooperate with the Neolians are in this building. We're going to be aiding in one big push in the front at night. While they're busy fending off our frontal lines, we're going to sneak up on them from behind with a couple youth divisions and surround them. We're going to take this building in the process, so just wanted to let you know," the boy ran off, running to the other soldiers and telling them of their objectives.

"Do you think Mari's going to be in that prison?" Lily asked silently. Cyphrus frowned,

"Only one way to find out. Get me to command, I need a request from the marines."

#####

"Ash Ketchum? Jonsey Greene?" The two snipers looked up from their sitting positions on the crates. Jonsey had a Solitaire game set up, teaching Ash how to play. Gunnery Sergeant Coles was at the front.

"Sir," The two stand up and salute.

"Command is ordering you two to come with me, take your night gear and weapons and meet me at the front in five," Coles walks away. The two look at each other, then stare at the rest of the group. Dimitri shrugs,

"Hey man, sucks to be you." Ash and Jonsey sigh before getting night vision HUD systems and ammo. They walked out of their dark green tent as they put on their helmets; both of them had to raise their hands to block their eyes from the setting sun. They met their Raptor Division friends in front of the flag pole in the middle of the base,

"Ketchup, once again we're on the battlefield together," Molly says as she smacks on some gum. Everybody glanced at them before looking back at the hologram.

"This is Turtle Prison, we're gonna free the prisoners and use this area along with other areas so we can sandwich the Neolian forces in one last push to regain this city. If this works successfully, Turtle Prison'll be one of the most heavily guarded and well put areas to fend against the Neolians. Divide and conquer, that's our goal."

"Don't say the three cursed words…" Jonsey crossed his fingers, Ash gulped.

"You'll be deployed behind enemy lines-"

"Dammit…"

"-To take over the Turtle prison. We're going to have five different sniper teams surround Turtle Prison, and we'll infiltrate and free the survivors and help them out," the boy briefing the team said with a monotone-like voice."

"Help them out? As in give them a gun and march them forward?" Darkblur raised an eyebrow with a scowl. The boy looked hurt,

"What are you nuts? Of course not! We're going to make sure they go home safely." Ash frowned, why was Darkblur always so pricky about this?

"So what's the plan?"

"You snipers are to go first, set up sniping positions with a battle plan of the area. We'll give you an entire day to get ready and set up points of sniping. Tonight, you'll be dropped from overhead and parachuted into enemy territory. Set up a perimeter around the prison and wait for the next night. It'll happen when you least expect it, so be prepared."

"How do we be prepared if we don't expect it?" Ash chuckled at himself.

"Lieutenant Colonel Cross himself will be on this mission, so make sure to give him the support he needs." The boy wasn't even that big, he was slightly older than seventeen with a uniform that was the same color as theirs. Ash widened his eyes,

"Cyphrus Cross?" Jonsey turned to him, patting his shoulder,

"Yep. Looks like the devil dog himself is coming to help the helpless once again huh?" Molly commented.

"Shut up and listen, no more side talking!" Everybody turned to see the master sergeant standing by the boy.

"Sorry sir," Jonsey grit his teeth. In silence, the flag fluttered around before the boy spoke again.

"Molly Carins, Ash Ketchum, and Jonsey Greene; you three will be one full sniper team."

"One spotter and two shooters? With your respect sir, I would like to take Tyranth with me." Skye looked up at Molly, who asked the request. The master sergeant spat on the ground,

"Just get the job done. Now come on, we have a prison to take care of." Molly, Skye, Ash, and Jonsey look at each other before following him to their next mission.

#####

**The next day…**

"Well, we've got all the calculations set for all the right spots. Wind is gonna let up a bit so that'll help a lot. You awake Ketchup?"

**1:48 AM**

"Huh? Yeah, I'm awake. Just thinking a bit."

"Stop thinking and help me with the searchlight mechanaloid, we have to take it out first. All the other snipers are in position; all we have to do now is wait."

"We've been waiting for a day!" Ash hissed. The two of them were on the cliff that was below the peak of a hillside. The city of Vom was a city surrounded by a mountain range, and Turtle Prison was surrounded by a mountain range so that it made sure that the prisoners would only try to escape from one possible way. The mountain range surrounded the prison, but kept the other part of the city at a distance. The prison itself was a gray hexagonal type of building. Lots of turrets and bunkers were guarding the front part, but only a few bunkers and turrets guarded the back.

The two of them were on a gray like rocky area, and both of them had suits covered in grey camouflage. From a distance, you couldn't tell from the rocks or the two snipers hidden against the mountain side. Rocks and gray colored sand bags were placed on the cliff, and a single sniper rifle was laid down on a protective bag. The two looked at the left side of the prison with the front being the entrance.

"You've got to keep up with me okay? Watch for hits, and make sure you tell me what was off and everything got it?" Jonsey asked. Ash nodded,

"Yeah." Jonsey was the one sniping, and Ash was the spotter. He had his binoculars ready, looking through the lit up lenses to see the search lights and the Galleons switching off their positions guarding the entrance.

"Mavericks, I fucking hate mavericks," Jonsey muttered. Ash uncomfortably was lying prone with Jonsey, who was setting up his sniper rifle. This sniper rifle was different. It was a five round miniature artillery sniper rifle. In other words, it was a gun that could tear through and explode practically anything.

"Tracer rounds?" Ash asked.

"Nah, explosive. They work better with walls like Prison walls anyway. All we have to do is make sure we don't kill any of the prisoners inside."

"That's great," Ash sarcastically remarked.

"Remember, we have three sniping spots in total. One full magazine and we're moving. Once I finish, we're gonna switch off, got it?"

"Yeah, hey, isn't that…" Ash was cut off short as a large flare flew over the prison area.

"Agh!" Jonsey and Ash both use an arm to cover their eyes as the flare shone a bright white, blinding almost everybody in the vicinity. Down in the prison, the Mavericks standing guard were disoriented and started to shoot off stray bullets into the distance. Soldiers also standing guard didn't know what was going on and some unfortunately stumbled into the cross fire.

"Dammit! Can't they warn us before they do something like that?" Jonsey says as he painfully looked down the scope of the rifle. It took a while for him to get adjusted to the light, but he eventually picked out his very first target.

"Commencing fire at target one!" Jonsey said aloud as Ash quickly brought his binoculars into his squinted eyes. Jonsey grunted as he pulled the trigger. A loud gunshot came from the sniper rifle and the gun flew back and almost hit Jonsey square in the nose. The dirt and sand flew back and cleared the area of any light particles. About three hundred yards farther, a searchlight mechanaloid exploded into a shower of sparks and deadly shrapenel. The guard below him screamed out as the remaining part of the mechanaloid slammed on the top of his head.

Jonsey pulled back the bolt from the sniper rifle and let the large bullet shell fly out. A burst of steam came from the sniper rifle as he let it cool for a quick second before he brought the bolt back to its original place. By this time, a couple of blazes from the muzzles of guns came from the frontal assault. By this time, the guards activated their red lasers on their guns so that they could pinpoint their enemies with the laser pointer.

"Right next to original target, I'm aiming for a double penetration on the mavericks."

"Okay, go ahead." Jonsey did exactly what he was planning to do, firing a round into the first maverick and into the second. The first one fell from the wall it was on, and the second fell to the side before exploding. What Jonsey didn't expect was to fire the round so that it went into a third person, a guard that was literally thrown off his feet. He didn't get up after that.

"Holy shit, did you see that?" Jonsey exclaimed.

"I wish I didn't," Ash muttered after looking at how the soldier went down.

"_All units! They think we're a bigger force than we are! Keep up the fire, and make sure we create a diversion for the stealth units to enter from the back!"_ Ash sneezed from the dirt and dust kicked up from the second blast.

"Machine gunner around our side, see him?"

"Wait… yeah, got him. Go!" Jonsey fired, releasing the bolt once he did. Ash shook his head,

"Miss, aim a little higher, you forgot about the gravity and distance." Jonsey immediately recalculated, setting his sights higher and a little to the right to fire again. This time, he hit the target dead on. The machine gun stopped, and the gunner's torso blew off his waist. Ash grimaced at the sight, but knew that the man was dead before he knew what hit him.

"Got him, one more shot before we move!" Ash said, already preparing to move.

"I'm gonna aim for the front side and cut through the walls." Ash nodded. Jonsey fired it, making sure that the bullet hit the wall in an explosion. Jonsey pulled the bolt back, and then got up with Ash.

"Moving!"

"Good job everybody, keep up the good work!" Cyphrus said. He was dressed in black armor; his red hair was mostly covered with a black beanie. He was talking through the small communicator on his left ear. They were at the frontal assault, buying time for Raptor division. Lily was right beside him, setting down her carbine on a set up sandbag position. Cyphrus took an assault rifle and fired at a Maverick.

"Keep up the fire! We're trying not to use the biometal, so do the best you can!" Lily said as she fire two rounds into an enemy maverick.

"Alright, Raptor division, do your work!" Cyphrus said as he ducked in cover from a spray of stray gunfire.

Behind the prison appeared four of the remaining Raptor division.

"_Rappel, go!"_ Scout said as he took out a small gun with a hook at the end of it. The four fired grappling hooks to the roof, quickly running up the wall without any other sound than the pats of their feet. They ran up, catching four guards off guard as they were trying to combat the sniper fire. They shot a burst of their silenced guns into their brains and crouched down to get a good view of what was happening. The rest of the guards were too busy fighting off the Aeolian assault, that they didn't even bother looking backwards.

The four Raptors were on the wall, hiding behind some of the barriers set up by the defending positions. They looked inwards at the large courtyard where the prisoners were spent outside, but most of the area was all barracks and entrances to underground jail cells. The prison guards were already hurrying the prisoners to the underground and to the cells in the thick walls, probably ready to use them as hostages.

"Come on, we don't have much time. Set up the jammer and let's go!" Two of the Raptors set up a small uplink that jammed all communications from the Neolian side. Scout and Darkblur were on the lookout for anybody who would get in their way.

"Jammer set, let's go!" The four rappelled down the wall, avoiding the mechanaloids still patrolling the area. Darkblur took out a pistol, and then took out a small forked device that was but right at the front of the barrel. in between the branches was a wall of blue static. Darkblur fired a round into an unsuspecting mechanaloid, making it fall down and malfunction from the small EMP released from the bullet.

"Alright, keep going. We've gotta secure the prisoners from the inside out. Let's keep moving quickly and quietly and make sure that those mechanaloids don't cause us any trouble. Luckily, every search light was being either destroyed or being used to locate attackers. Prison guards soon started to use laser pointers, desperate to find their enemies.

"_Alright, intel says that the most subtle entrance is probably to your right. Move into that entrance and eliminate all the guards on the inside. Remember, we don't want the prisoners to make too much of a racket either, so try to avoid them too."_ The four Raptor units let their Rappel ropes go as they ran to a barrack for cover from the frontal guards. Luckily, amidst all of the chaos, they managed to get there unseen.

"Alright, there should be an entrance inside the barracks, look for any trapdoors!" Darkblur kicked the door open than dashed in, punching the unsuspecting guard in the face and leaving him dazed on the floor.

"Trapdoor here," Darkblur said, feeling the door as he slid it out of its concealed place.

"Nice, they set up the jammer. Your turn Ketchup," Jonsey said as he took his binoculars and stared at the men trying to fire at the forces in the front. Ash took a magazine filled with tracer rounds and carefully put it in the place where it should be, and pushed forward the already pulled back bolt, ready to fire. They were in another sandbag position, more right of their original spot. The dark rocks and sand kept the two hidden, making sure that the two blended in perfectly.

"Target one, the guy next to the battlement at the eastern side of the prison. He's trying to look for snipers on the other side."

"Get him."

Ash aimed the reticule at the man at the other side and pulled the trigger. The soldier's armor stood no chance and he slumped forward and dropped his scoped rifle over the wall.

"Clean kill good shot."

"Second target, automatic turret. I'm gonna aim for the joint."

"Roger." Ash took time to hone in on the auto turret that was firing it's three barreled gun towards the men up front. Ash pulled the trigger, missing his mark by a few feet. The turret turned his way, pivoting its head to find where the bullet came from.

"Shit! Get that turret!" Ash grit his teeth as he quickly pulled back the bolt and pushed it forward. Ash watched as the auto turret aimed its three barrels towards him, twirling its three barrels as it got ready to fire in his direction. Ash quickly fired a bullet into its pivoting joint, making it tumble and malfunction.

"That was a close call," Jonsey sighed. Ash coughed from all the dust kicking up from the recoil of the gun,

"We're not out of the woods yet!" Some of the soldiers were now aiming in their direction, now firing towards them as the auto turret almost did. Ash flinched as he felt a bullet whiz through his head, but stayed calm as he realized that they didn't exactly know where they were shooting.

"Third target is the light machine gunner," Ash said as he pulled back the bolt and pushed it forward.

"Get him before he gets us!" Ash did exactly as he told, firing a bullet into the man's lower jaw so that it severed the line between his brain and the rest of his body. The soldier fell back with his arms limp.

"Fourth target, guy on his right!" Ash cocked the sniper rifle and fired another round as quickly as he could. The bullet missed and hit the wall, but the soldier knew that he was targeted so he ducked down.

"Moving!" Ash said as the two get up and carry the sniper rifle and their ammo.

"Raptor unit, this is Wardog 1, what's the situation down there?" Cyphrus asked as he sat against a rock barricade.

"Flare!" Lily yelled out, firing a small launcher to fire a large blinding flare that lit up the entire area.

"_This is Raptor 1, we've working on the first underground area, stand by."_

"HQ! Come in! This is turtle prison, we are currently getting attacked by an unknown force! Requesting backup!" A man said with panic. He quickly turned around in his chair away from the communication equipment down in the dimly lit underground area.

"I can't raise them! Something's blocking our communications!" The man said to another man with a gun who was gritting his teeth in fright,

"Keep trying!" He turned around at a sudden noise, then widened his eyes as a bullet went straight into his heart. He twisted around, shooting the man on the chair in the face. The four Raptor units secured the small space before throwing a grenade into the area and moving to the next underground passage.

"This is Raptor 1; we've got rid of their long range communications room. All we have to worry about now is to get the prisoners out alive," Scout said as he lowered his face mask.

"Understood Raptor 1! Good work!" Cyphrus said.

"Cyphrus, we found the list of prisoners," Scout said as he gulped. He took the small flat scroll like device and used his finger to scroll down the names. Cyphrus widened his eyes,

"Yeah, and?" Cyphrus asked.

"_She's here." _Lily and Cyphrus share each other looks, both of them were shocked.Cyphrus watched as the guards gave up their futile efforts to attempt to regroup inside the prison for a last stand. Already, Mavericks and Mechanaloids were falling back with them.

"They're falling back! All units, storm the prison!" Cyphrus yelled as he broke a sprint to the front. Lily extended a hand towards Cyphrus,

"Wait! Cyphrus!" She found herself hiding behind the sandbags again as bullets hit the sand where she was. Cyphrus threw away a magazine as he ran forward and put a new one in. The front of the prison was heavily guarded with a large gate. The soldiers guarding it already started to fire their weapons towards Cyphrus.

"Get outta my way!" Cyphrus shouted, bringing out his biometal.

"Rock on!" Cyphrus's light blinded some of the people there, giving him a chance to dash forward and kick up the gate. He took his assault rifle by one hand and fired the entire clip into the guards who now realized who they were going up against.

"It's him! It's the-" One of the soldiers tried to say before he got an assault rifle thrown at his face. He fell over and got knocked out on the ground below. Cyphrus and his green armor was standing at the top, watching the guards try to flee from the Rockman.

"Raptor 1! Where's Mari?" Cyphrus asked with anticipation in his voice.

"_We can't tell! She could be anywhere!"_ Cyphrus gritted his teeth.

"Focus on getting the prisoners to safety! I'll handle the guards!" Cyphrus took out his gun and jumped into the courtyard. He was met with a barrage of gunfire, but he dodged the volley as he rolled behind a small building that was hiding a couple of guards also. One of the guards took out an anti tank rocket launcher, firing it at the building and watching it burst into flames. They waited and waited for Cyphrus to come out, but they didn't see any movement behind the fire of the silver like building.

"Did we get hi-" A large blue blast of energy made some of the guards and mavericks disappear into the blue light, turning them to ash. The blast went through the wall, making a hole for some of the prisoners to run and make a break for it.

"The prisoners! Get them!" The guards were no longer focused on Cyphrus, but were now opening fire at the prisoners. Cyphrus snarled as he leapt through the fire and grabbed hold of one of the guards and chucking him to the ground so that his back broke. Cyphrus watched as most of the guards popped out of the barracks to open fire at the prisoners who were trying to escape, and none of them survived.

"Snipers! Get to it!" Lily said as she reloaded. Ash, from a faraway distance, growled at the sight of innocent prisoners getting slaughtered.

"Guard in the barracks with the light machine gun!" Jonsey yelled out, not wanting to waste time. He fired, hitting the wall of the window that he was firing from. He flew back, rolling on the floor in pain.

"Raptor 1!" Lily yelled, "What's the situation inside?"

"The guards are slaughtering the prisoners! We're doing all we can to stop them!" Lily set down her assault rifle for a shoulder fired wall buster rocket launcher.

"All units, fire the corkscrew rockets! According to the intel we're given, we can fire these without hurting the prisoners inside!" She fired hers, watching the rocket go into the wall. But instead of it exploding, it flew up debris from all the material it was drilling itself into. Other rockets flew into the walls, doing the exact same. The rockets were orderly placed so that once they go off when they drilled far enough, it would blow the wall up but not hurt any civilian inside. When they were done drilling and when the debris stopped, the rockets exploded and kicked up the dirt and created a blocked vision.

"Switch to therma-" Lily said before a plasma round flew past her head. The flare had dissipated and it was pitch black, but plasma rounds from the mavericks inside came from the dust and dirt. Good, it meant that they punched through. A man flew back from his position behind a rock from a plasma hit to the stomach.

"Switch to thermal!" Lily finished her command. She watched her green tinted HUD to show the red outlined Mavericks and their heated mechanical bodies. This was now a battle in the dark, no flares were going off anymore. Only some of the lights from inside the fort were shown. Lily fired a burst into the head of a maverick and watched it fall to the ground. She gritted her teeth from how difficult it was to tell the difference between a dead soldier and a living one.

"Raptor 1! How's Cyphrus?"

"_He's doing fine. It's just that there are so many fucking mavericks. We're doing the best we can, Devil Dog is our little decoy. It looks like there were underground passages that were blocked out from intel. High value targets have already been evacuated via underground passages. Request to engage fleeing targets and bring back prisoners?"_

"Permission granted!" Lily said as a wardog took the place of Cyphrus next to Lily.

"M'am! We've got a problem!" He said as he chucked a grenade into the prison area. None of the prisoners seemed to have been behind the walls when we breached." Lily looked at him with a hard look.

"Okay, anything else?"

"The jammer… it's…" Lily widened her eyes.

"Snipers! Do we have a visual confirmation that the jammer is down?"

"_Yeah! The jammer got shot up!" _Ash's voice replied.

"_This is sniper team three, reconfirming that the jammer is down."_ Lily cursed,

"Who knows if any of those transmitters can work underground!" The soldier said, firing a burst from his LAR.

"For now, we're pinned from these guys at the front!" Ash, from a far distance got frustrated as most of the targets were blocked by the wall.

"Hey, Ketchup, since we were brought along with the big guys, they gave us this x-ray scope thing. Wanna try it out?" Ash gave Jonsey a skeptical look.

"And we didn't use this till now… why?" Jonsey put a hand behind his head,

"I forgot man! Sorry!" Ash sighed before unscrewing the scope that was on top of the rifle. He screwed on the x-ray scope and motioned Jonsey to follow him down.

"We're gonna move closer, all the Neolians are backed into the walls of the prison. Jonsey nodded. They both looked from afar at the blue lasers here and there from Cyphrus's charged shots.

"Hah. Devil Dog." Jonsey commented. Ash turned to him,

"What?"

"I heard that he's so fierce that the Neolians call him Devil Dog from the wardog insignia that's painted on his shoulder on his armor. What a crazy guy." Ash didn't make a sound. Instead, they found a nice spot and looked through their x-ray scope and x-ray binoculars. They were a blue tint, and it zoomed into see the outlines of the people inside.

"Armor penetration rounds coming up," Jonsey said as he pulled it out of his pouch and reloaded the gun. Ash kept his sights down range, and gasped at the outline of a soldier executing prisoners by gunpoint. The man must've been put in charge of the prisoners. Instead, he was executing them.

"Jonsey! Do you see that?" Jonsey quickly switched to his binoculars, letting out a stream of curses that would put a drill sergeant to shame.

"Ash, light that motherfucker up!" Jonsey found a button on the binoculars, outlining the target in red instead of its original blue hue. Ash pulled back the bolt and pushed it forward, pulling the trigger to watch the body fly and hit the wall behind him. The prisoners that were huddling up in the corner stopped huddling, and one was brave enough to pick up the sub machine gun that it was carrying. It was a girl! In fact, she slowly crept forward while the other prisoners checked the dead man for ammunition and other weapons. Sure enough, they found a side arm and a couple grenades.

"Hey, Jonsey, you see that?"

"Yeah, let's help em out!" Jonsey lit up another target, this one was hiding behind a wall to wait and ambush the girl with the gun.

"Got him?" Jonsey asked. Ash fired before he could answer back, watching the body fly forward and dig his face into the metal of the ground. By this time, other soldiers turned around and tried to fire back at the girl with the gun from the outlines.

"Damn, these x-ray things work. Hey, be careful too. We're shooting through jail bars and thick walls, so be careful!" Ash nodded. He fired again, eager to take down another opponent. This one missed, but made the people duck for cover. By this time, they were getting behind different layers of walls. Some outlines disappeared while some outlines became clearer.

"Damn, they're making it harder for us. Now we have to change the x-ray depth for each layer."

"Wait." Ash stopped and put a hand to his left ear.

"Wardog 1, this is sniper team five. We're seeing a bunch of prisoners escaping. Two have stolen small arms while some of them carry grenades. A female is leading the group. Wanna help them out?"

#####

A girl with long red hair and dark red eyes wearing an orange prison outfit was hiding behind a wall. Blood was spattered all over her face and the look of pure revenge was the expression she held. Others held the expression as well and they all rushed forward when the guards took cover. The girl's hair blocked her left eye, showing only a single red eye. By now, the guards were panicking about what to do. Fight or flight was on their minds as two of their own men got shot through the wall. A prisoner took this to his advantage and pulled the pin off a grenade. He held it for a second before hitting the wall with his back and tossing it towards the guards. A roll was heard, and screams of shock and pain followed.

"Come on! We can do this guys!" The girl exclaimed. She held the gun at her hip, obviously not knowing much about guns. She fired a whole volley into the guards that were on the ground, making sure that they were dead. But when they advanced forward, a guard popped out and shot a prisoner with the side arm. He fell backwards, dead, but another prisoner took his place. The girl fired her gun, but sprayed the area and missed him. To her horror, empty clacks came from her gun. She didn't know how to reload the gun, so she froze in not knowing what to do.

"Get down!" The girl turned around, and got shoved down to the floor. She hit the ground with a yelp, and widened her eyes at the gunshots going off. She looked up at the man who shoved her down. He held a pistol in his hands from the man before. He got shot on the right side of his chest and in his stomach. The guard cursed as his gun jammed, but looked up in horror as the man who got shot removed his hand from his wounds and raised the pistol to fire a round into the guard's neck and leave him gurgling on the floor. Other guards popped out to fire at him and the girl, but they both were already in cover.

"Avery!" The girl yelled out. She took his gun and blind fired it with her left arm as they were taking cover behind a prison cell wall. Armor piercing bullets flew over her head, and she fired more from the pistol before it clacked again. The girl yelled out in pain when she got shot. She dropped the gun and retracted her arm and clutched it. She gave the man lying on the floor a guilty look.

"Avery… I'm so sorry!" The girl said as she cried from her stupidity and from the pain from her shoulder. Her fellow inmates threw their grenades, but were shot down after. Now, the guards were advancing and the prisoners were backing up. The man laughed, causing the girl to look from her friends to look at her dying inmate.

"Damn… we were so close too."

"Avery! Don't talk like that!... We… we can get you out of here!"

"Nah… come on… you know we were going to die one way or another."

"Come on Avery! Stop it! We can get out of this!" The girl screamed, tears flowing down her face.

"Hey… promise me something… if you get out alive…" The man said. By this time, blood was coming out of his mouth and trickling down the side of his face. The girl gasped, and then stayed quiet despite the sounds of the guards. Avery took his hand and grasped the girl by the collar and pulled her closer as he struggled to speak.

"Find… your brother… and avenge everybody…" The man gave the girl a hard look. The girl widened her eyes, but then gave him a dark look.

"I will." She said as she grasped his hand. She didn't notice the guards but they shouted at her.

"You bitch!" The girl never left Avery's eyes until she closed them and wiped her tears. She felt the barrel of a gun pointed to the back of her head.

"I'm sorry Avery." Right when she whispered that she reopened her eyes to see a fist punch through the wall along with a follow of a couple of plasma bursts. The plasma ate away the wall and the fist pulled back and tore the wall along with him. The guards widened their eyes at the sight of the chosen one with a clenched fist in one hand, and a limp maverick in the other. A look of righteous anger reflected in his red eyes.

"Slaughtering prisoners… And you call _us_ barbarians?" Cyphrus yelled as he threw the maverick at the guards, right over the girl's head. The girl couldn't believe what she saw, but Cyphrus didn't pay attention to her as he took out his gun and shot the guards one by one with each energy shot. The guards tried to flee, but they couldn't avoid the shots from Cyphrus. The rest of the guards were lined up against the wall, now cowering in fear with their guns dropped and their hands in the air to plead for mercy.

"Do you think that I'll let you off scott free after killing this many prisoners? No, you all have to be punished for what you did!" Cyphrus exclaimed, but another voice was integrated with his… it seemed like it was the voice of Model C.

"No! NO! Please!"

"We can change! Spare us!"

"Don't hurt us, we'll do as you say!" Their pleas reached Cyphrus through his blind rage and he closed his eyes from the fear in their voices.

"… You're lucky." Cyphrus shouldered his gun, staring down the guards. They were only guards, nothing more. The guards were now crying from relief, but the prisoners were shouting and yelling at Cyphrus.

"Do you know what they have done?"

"They made our lives a living hell for more than five years!"

"You're an Aeolian right? Kill them!" The girl looked at the chosen one and the prisoners, her heart was torn apart of what to think now.

"Do you want me to become like them?" Cyphrus snapped back. He picked up an assault rifle and threw it towards the prisoners.

"Do it yourself, but know that the blood of unarmed human beings are on your hands after." The girl gasped, now realizing the truth. Cyphrus picked up more weapons, hurling it towards the prisoners.

"Go on! Do it!" Cyphrus's rage returned, but it was towards the prisoners. In fact, he grabbed one with a gun and brought him towards the guards who were backing up even more. The prisoner was shaking, not knowing what to do. He finally closed his eyes and started to scream and curse in frustration. In fact, he used the gun as a club and clubbed one of the prisoners. Cyphrus watched, knowing that the man would stop after his first hit.

"Raptor 1. Secure these guards." Four men busted in from behind the guards and putting them in handcuffs and restraints in a blink of an eye. The prisoners started crying, jumping for joy as they saw the Aeolian insignias on their armors.

"Aeolians… we're saved!" The prisoners yelled out.

"Cyphrus…" The chosen one turned at the sound of his name, and looked at the girl on her knees on the ground. Blood on her suit, hands, and face mixing with the tears.

"Is it really you?" The girl asked with pleading eyes, grasping her hands together. Cyphrus gave her a long stare before widening his eyes. She looked so skinny and so broken that he couldn't even recognize her at first. Her voice changed also, but he knew who she was.

"M… Mari?" Cyphrus asked with a gasp. The girl stood up.

"Cyphrus! Is it really you?" The girl asked one more time. But Cyphrus couldn't answer because a guard came from the same hole that Cyphrus made and put Mari to gun point with a pistol. She screamed but a thrust of the pistol against her head made her shut up.

"Don't move! Don't fucking move!" Cyphrus glared at the guard with his teeth bared; using every inch of his strength to keep himself back.

"If any of you move, I'll blow her fucking head off!" The guard had a psychotic look on his face, all angry with the loss of his guards. He looked at the guards tied up and spat at Cyphrus.

"Fucking Aeolian dogs! It's too bad, it's too late! You're all going to die cause reinforcements are coming!" The guard yelled out. The guards tied up wanted to give out a sigh of relief, but the glares of the prisoners made them shut their mouths.

"Release those guards, now!" The guard ordered. But before any of the raptor units could move, one of the guards said calmly.

"No can do boss… These guys spared us instead of killing us off like we were killing them. We can't do this anymore." The guard holding Mari was shouting at the guards, right next to Mari's ear.

"Fuck you! Fuck you all!" Out of anger, the guard took his pistol and shot Cyphrus straight into the heart. But he knew that his armor was thick, so he fired two more. Cyphrus shouted out and fell backwards on the ground.

"CYPHRUS!" Mari shouted in horror.

"Shut up!" The guard gave Mari a smack into her head. Cyphrus groaned as he struggled to sit up. But, when he did, the guard was now pointing the pistol between the eyes, where it wasn't protected.

"Maybe I'll get out of this fucking job once I kill you, think about the promotions!" The guard greedily said.

"I'll kill you for causing all this trouble. Now, di-" A bullet went through the helmet of the guard, killing him instantly and dropping him to the floor. Mari shoved him off of her and ran towards Cyphrus.

"Cyphrus! Brother! Please, don't die!" She yelled out in shock, but she watched Cyphrus groan and sit up, rubbing his armor.

"Thank God, I thought I was a goner there," Cyphrus laughed. But he watched as Mari dropped and embraced Cyphrus with all she had.

"_That one was on the house! Ketchup out."_ Cyphrus smiled, now crying as well with her sister. Mari looked up at him, staring at their identical red eyes.

"You're alive huh?" Cyphrus said with a shaky voice. Mari gave Cyphrus a slap to the face. He didn't move, but actually laughed.

"What took you so long?" Mari asked with a cry. But she found herself slipping away from consciousness, and collapsing on him. From afar, Darkblur lowered his facemask and stared at them with a blank expression, but his eyes told otherwise. In his eyes, they reflected happiness. The prisoners laughed along,

"So Mari is your sister?"

"Congradulations!"

"You have an awesome brother there Mari!" The prisoners were unaware that she was out cold.

"I've finally found you Mari," Cyphrus said as he stroked her hair away from the other side of her face.

"Wardog 1, we've got to go! Maverick reinforcements are on their way, things aren't going to work with prisoners and POWs stuck here! We need to retreat!" Darkblur yelled out, leaving his ear vacant as he dropped a hand from his ear. Cyphrus nodded, wiped the tears off his face, and picked her up bridal style to Darkblur. Darkblur gave Cyphrus a skeptical look.

"Can you look after her for me?" Cyphrus asked.

"As much as I want to stay, I've got work to do!" Cyphrus gave him a look with determination. Darkblur stayed silent before silently nodding. Cyphrus ran off without a word, bringing out his gun and charging it.

"_You found her,"_ Model C said in his head as he ran out.

"No. _We_ found her!" Cyphrus yelled out as he fired his charged shot into a group of mavericks. He shouldered it, taking a grenade in one hand and dashing to grab the head of a maverick in the other.

"Hurry up; I've got a sister to get back to!"

#####

**5:45 AM Daybreak**

"Ketchup! The rest of our guys left! We've got to get out of here before the reinforcements find us! Come on, let's go!" The two climbed faster up the hill with the morning sun bearing down their backs, carrying their equipment with them and struggling. They finally made it to the top to find a personal helicopter with them. A gunner and two empty seats were there for them.

"Are we the last ones?" Ash asks.

"Yeah! Everybody's been evacuated, now we gotta get the hell out of here before the mavericks catch us!" The pilot said. Unfortunately, every single other soldier had a higher priority than the two snipers, so they left last. They didn't complain; they actually wanted to stay back and make sure everything went okay.

"Alright! Let's go!" The two feel the helicopter leave the ground, and watch as flying guardians fly towards them.

"Gunner! Come on!" The gunner put out his cigarette and shouted,

"Alright, alright!" He pressed a pedal, making a platform for him and his minigun to slide onto. He started firing at the Mavericks. Luckily, the two snipers got a good pilot and gunner.

"Shit! Break left, there's a missle heading our way!" The gunner said as the roar of the minigun shook the helicopter.

"Hang on!" The helicopter banked left, barely avoiding a missile, but plasma shots hit the tail rotor and made it start spinning.

"Fuck! Of all times!" The pilot swore as everybody struggled to stay where they were.

"Hang on!" Ash almost fell out, but Jonsey grabbed his wrist and swore.

"Mayday! This is two-four, we're going to crash. Sorry guys, we're gonna land behind enemy lines!"

#####


	11. Welcome to Rosetta!

**I REALLY have to apologize for uploading so late! I think all of my readers got bored of waiting and left… if you're still reading this, then hoo-ah!**

#####

**Welcome to Rosetta!**

#####

"Mmm…" Luna opened her eyes to see CJ frowning at his device. His eyes reflected the white lettering that was un readable from where Luna was laying. She was concerned at his facial expression. The two were sitting in the park again, snuggling in the cold with him under a blanket.

"CJ?" Chris shut his eyes and gave Luna a look that already gave away what he was going to say next.

"Luna… I know this is sudden but I have to go back." Luna widened her eyes, now sitting up and looking at him with a bewildered expression.

"What? Why?" Luna asked. She clung onto CJ, who shut his eyes.

"The Neolian defense line has been overrun and now every available soldier has to be on the frontlines. And besides, I have a weapon that can also help in aiding with us holding back the Aeolians." Luna was horrified, but she did her best to stay strong.

"All… alright… But, promise me you'll come home soon okay?" Luna asked, desperate as she clung on harder. Tears were already coming at her eyes for the sudden departure. CJ smiled,

"I promise. Do me a favor and send my regards to my little brother and my mom okay?" Luna nodded. She opened her mouth, but closed it and looked away. CJ raised an eyebrow.

"What is it?" They both got up, CJ folding the blanket. Luna shook her head. She hugged him surprisingly and caused him to almost fall back.

"I'll tell you once you come back. I love you CJ." Chris smiled, pulling her apart so that he could firmly plant his lips on his. They broke apart, giving each other painful, sad smiles.

"You're what I'm fighting for Luna, I love you too."

#####

_**5:45 AM Daybreak**_

"_Ketchup! The rest of our guys left! We've got to get out of here before the reinforcements find us! Come on, let's go!" The two climbed faster up the hill with the morning sun bearing down their backs, carrying their equipment with them and struggling. They finally made it to the top to find a personal helicopter with them. A gunner and two empty seats were there for them. _

"_Are we the last ones?" Ash asks._

"_Yeah! Everybody's been evacuated, now we gotta get the hell out of here before the mavericks catch us!" The pilot said. Unfortunately, every single other soldier had a higher priority than the two snipers, so they left last. They didn't complain; they actually wanted to stay back and make sure everything went okay._

"_Alright! Let's go!" The two feel the helicopter leave the ground, and watch as flying guardians fly towards them._

"_Gunner! Come on!" The gunner put out his cigarette and shouted,_

"_Alright, alright!" He pressed a pedal, making a platform for him and his minigun to slide onto. He started firing at the Mavericks. Luckily, the two snipers got a good pilot and gunner._

"_Shit! Break left, there's a missile heading our way!" The gunner said as the roar of the minigun shook the helicopter._

"_Hang on!" The helicopter banked left, barely avoiding a missile, but plasma shots hit the tail rotor and made it start spinning. To make matters worse, the entire tail was blown apart from the rocket._

"_Fuck! Of all times!" The pilot swore as everybody struggled to stay where they were._

"_Hang on!" Ash almost fell out, but Jonsey grabbed his wrist and swore._

"_Mayday! This is two-four, we're going to crash. Sorry guys, we're gonna land behind enemy lines!"_

"Ash! Hold on to the seat!" Jonsey yelled out. Ash did so, holding the seat barely. The helicopter spun out of control. But instead of the gunner falling out, he held the handle with a death grip and let go of the minigun. The pilot did all he could to try to lessen the impact as they spiraled into the ground behind the plateau they took off from.

"This is two-four, we're landing at coordinates-" The pilot's words were drowned out from Ash's ears as he grit his teeth and shut his eyes from the impact of the helicopter landing on the grass. Ash felt his body jerk and hit the seat in front of him, giving him a nasty headache as he stood back up with a groan. Dirt flew everywhere, blocking most of his view, but something was off… he was standing at an angle. He looked outside to see the ground at the right level, but the trees were growing in a strange way… could it be that-

Ash's thoughts were interrupted by a line of curses from Jonsey.

"Holy shit! We're right at the edge of a cliff!" The gunner looked to the left side of the broken helicopter, realizing that his words were true. Foliage and green from a forest was below them, and it was a hundred foot vertical drop. The three looked at the pilot seat, but found a man unmoving at the seat. What happened next happened in slow motion. An explosion came from the helicopter, making it fly off the cliff for the three to hit a free fall. Ash looked at his left in horror at the green foliage coming closer and closer as his voice rose in a scream. He held on to the seat, but closed his eyes when the helicopter dropped right into the trees.

#####

"Get her to the medical room! Hurry!" Cyphrus said as he carried an unconscious red haired girl bridal style and handed her to another bigger wardog soldier. Lily ran and stopped where Cyphrus stood, which was right in front of the medical wing.

"Cyphrus!" The red haired teen turned around and tore off his black beanie and ran to her.

"Any news on Ash and the others?" Lily shook her head and frowned.

"No, their last transmission pinpointed their area, but I don't know if we can get there in time before the mavericks do." Cyphrus gritted his teeth.

"We've got to get them!" Cyphrus said in horror. They were behind enemy lines the entire time, what would happen if they had a downed crew of four right next to where a major battle took place?

"We're assembling a search team, but our best guys are beat from the raid," Lily said as a patient was wheeled into the medical wing.

"Besides, a lot of us got injured too." Cyphrus clenched his fists.

"Is there anybody who can volunteer for a search and rescue?"

"No, more than half of our forces are being used to re-take most of the city," Lily said.

"I'll go, we need to find them!" Cyphrus said with a grave tone.

"No, Cyphrus! Look at yourself! You're not in any condition to go yet! We need to organize this, not go head first into whatever's going to happen!" Lily said as she put a hand on his chest. Cyphrus looked at himself, clenching his teeth at all the burns at his armor. Luckily, he wasn't damaged enough to the point of burning his flesh under.

"_She's got a point,"_ Model C spoke up. "_You're not really combat ready as of now."_

"Besides, when Mari wakes up, you need to be there," Lily told Cyphrus. Cyphrus sighed, clenched his fist, and closed his eyes.

"I promised them Lily; I promised Latias he'll be back. I can't go back on that promise!" Cyphrus said as he opened his eyes and his red eyes sparked a fire within. Lily looked deeply into his eyes, calming him as he stared at those ocean like sapphires.

"Cyphrus… You're really selfless, you know that?" Lily relaxed her shoulders and gave him a smile. Despite how dirty those two were, she hugged him. Cyphrus was slightly caught off guard, not really wanting a hug but a way to help Ash. But he returned it anyway, smiling as she looked up at him. He smiled back at her, wondering how a simple hug can calm him down as fast as that.

"Don't worry Cyphrus, stay here with your sister. I'll arrange the search party. I'm responsible for him too," Lily said as the two break apart.

"Thank you."

#####

"Unnnghhh…" Ash slowly opened his eyes, wondering why the leaves were so small. He was also in a very awkward position… he was hanging! Ash opened his eyes and looked around and saw that his body was slumped over a branch that was hanging him by the waist. Ash estimated how far up he was-

Crack.

"Oh no," Ash said as he realized that the crack came from his branch. He could only widen his eyes as his branch fell along with him. He yelped as he fell ten feet. He hit the ground, rolling and hitting his head on a tree stump.

"OW!" Ash clutched his head, even with his protective helmet, it still hurt his head. His nose was now decorated with a cut and flowing blood, flowing down the sides of his face. He dragged himself to the stump and leaned back on it. He took off his camouflage head protection, revealing his face and hair. He sighed, letting the cool air meet his face.

"Woah! And I thought you were a monster!" Ash immediately reached for his pistol and whipped it out towards two kids. One was a small boy; the other was a tall girl. She looked rather happy to see him.

"Wow, you are completely covered in leaves!" The girl laughed. She must've been fifteen by the way she looked. Ash blinked, they're not even reacting to the pistol in my hands!

"No way, you play guns too?" The little boy exclaimed. Ash looked at his pistol, slowly putting it away.

"Err… no?" Ash said uncertainly. The boy pouted,

"Aww, I wanted to play!"

"Oh don't worry; he'll play with you after he comes to our village!" She grabs him with surprising strength and raises him to his feet. He stumbles, yelps, and stumbles some more as he barely caught his camo gear.

"Wait, wait, village?" Ash asked. The girl smiled,

"Of course!" The boy runs forward, yelling in excitement as he kicks up leaves while he runs.

"Wait, I gotta find my friends-"

"The other monster? Oh yeah! And he brought two other people with him, they weren't feeling too good," The girl says as she ran with him. Ash kept up, but was still very confused. And where was he?

"Where are we?" Ash manages to ask. She turns around and grins with an innocent hands-behind-your-back posture,

"We're at Rosetta village; we should be there right about… now!" They burst through a clearing, stopping to see the small village surrounded with trees and foliage. It was surrounded with small houses that were hand made with tools that were obviously scavenged. People were walking around, now paying attention to the newcomer. Now that he had a time to look at everybody, they all had one thing in common. They all had silver like hair and golden eyes. They wore clothes that would be seen in Ash's world, not really what he would see in a world like where he was. In fact, the girl he saw had a red dress with long silver hair and soft golden eyes.

"Come on!" Ash felt awkward as he walked while holding the girl's hand with his own gloved one. He wasn't going to complain, as long as he gets to his friends. He walked through the streets, watching other people giving him a friendly smile and laughing at his getup.

"Here we are!" They stopped at a small house, and Ash was so relieved to see Jonsey and the other two he was with. They were lying down on beds, sitting up. From left to right, the pilot, a blue eyed short haired blond was smoking a cigarette while the gunner was a short stocky brown haired brown eyed guy. They were both around their twenties, with a pained look on their faces. The gunner was bandaged in areas on his face and arms while the pilot had one going around his head.

"Oh thank God," Jonsey said. His camo was replaced with a white T-shirt, and whatever was below was blocked by bed sheets. He was at the left of the gunner's side.

"You guys!" Ash widened his eyes and grinned. The pilot raised a hand,

"Yo sniper dude." The gunner chuckled,

"Good to see you alive, kid."

"Boy am I glad to see you guys!" Ash said. But he was stopped as a girl was feeling him, looking for a way to take off his camo.

"Wh-what are you doing?" Ash asked as he just stared at her. She stopped, tilted her head and smiled.

"You need to take that off don't you?" Ash was now beet red with his hands raised up in defense.

"I-I think I can take it off myself, thanks!" Ash awkwardly said. The three others laughed.

"She did the same to us kid, just show her where to start and she'll do it for you!" The gunner chuckled. Ash turned a darker shade of red.

"I got it…" He took off his camo, leaving only his jumpsuit with him. She received the camo, but still cocked her head.

"What about that?" She pointed at the skin tight jumpsuit that Ash was wearing.

"C-can I at least get some clothes first?" She smiled and gave him white shorts and a white T-shirt. Ash went into a room in where he found out was a bathroom, and changed and came back out.

"Wow, you're the least hurt out of all of them!" The girl exclaimed. She motioned Ash to a bed, lying him down and tucking him in as if he was a little child.

"Oh, wait!" The girl reached into a very ghetto like first aid box and cleaned up the bloody mess that was not drying up. It stung, but Ash went through worse pain in basic training camp. A bandage covered the bridge of his nose, where his cut was, and he blinked once she smiled at how he looked.

"That's better!" The girl said, giggling.

"Oh, food! Be right back!" She sang as she skipped out of the house.

A moment of silence passed by before Ash asked,

"What… just happened?" Jonsey laughed,

"I thought the same thing too before I found out who these guys are." Ash looked at him, he was at his right.

"These guys are the Indigenous people; they managed to survive after all these years. They're really old school, and have all the things we would have about a hundred years back or so," the gunner said. The pilot blew out a puff of smoke,

"Yeah, I heard about them."

"Really ? Last time I checked, you flunked out of high school before you could even learn a thing about this country," the gunner coughed.

"Shut up Howey." The helictoper gunner laughed at his comeback.

"Oh yeah. Ketchup, this is Todd Howey and Mark Bern," Jonsey managed to say.

"Sup sniper dude," Bern said while taking another drag out of his cigarette.

"Is your real name Ketchup? Oh, nice to meet you by the way," The gunner said. He was slightly pudgier than the pilot, round faced for sitting in a gunner's seat for so long.

"Oh, no. It's Ash Ketchum," Ash managed to say before he clutched his stomach area. A sharp pain came from his stomach, and he looked down to see a massive bruise spreading at his core.

"Well, try not to move or talk too much Ash. It looks like you fell and got caught by a branch or something. Just let it heal for now and relax."

"Yeah, listen to Howey. He graduated high school with a 4 point 0 grade point average. He enlisted in the military for a challenge. You hear that? A fucking challenge!" The pilot said as he blew a puff of smoke at Todd's way. Todd coughed, waving his hand to get the smell of smoke out of his face.

"Yeah, and this is the guy who flunked out of high school and smokes cheap cigarettes all day." The pilot laughed, but stopped from the pain.

"Oh yeah. Doesn't mean I can't fly though. I barely got through the written test, but man. I can fly like no other pilot in the Aeonian military man," The pilot took another drag of his cigarette, careful enough to let the ashes fall into a tray.

"Well that explains why we got shot down," Todd mumbled.

"Hey, there were flying Mavericks man. I had to do something _real_ tricky! You couldn't keep up by shooting the bastards down!"

"Yeah, well changing the angle of the chopper would've been fine! I could've taken them out!" The two of them stopped arguing abruptly, clutching where ever they were hurt and groaning.

"You two are quite the bunch," Jonsey laughed. Ash only smiled at the amusement the two gave off. They were an interesting pair.

"Hey! What does bastard mean?" A kid whispered at the entrance. Another kid was snickering next to him, laughing at the two arguing.

"Now look what you did. Hey kid, bastard isn't a good word, don't use it or else you'll get in trouble!" Todd said while he brought a finger to his lips. The kids sniggered,

"Okay mister!" They ran off, playing with whatever they were playing with before.

"You know what; I'm tired as. I'm getting some shut eye," The pilot grimaced.

"Flyboy here's right, we should probably get some sleep," Jonsey said. Ash didn't even need to listen to another word. Just the mention of the world sleep just immediately put him out like candlelight.

#####

"Uh… sir? Do you think we'll make it?" A dark blue uniformed boy asked. His brown hair and green eyes were very common on this continent.

"Of course we will. Neolian bases should be nearby." Three dark blue uniformed men held rifles and sub machine guns. They trudged through the mud that seemed to suck their boots down when they stepped down. What seemed to be the leader was wearing a dark blue military cap. His raven hair was long enough to stick out of his cap. He was older than the other two, who were youth soldiers.

"Sir, remember? The Neolian bases were overrun; we're practically behind enemy lines now." The youngest one of the three had short blond hair and he held green eyes.

"There's still got to be a way out of this. Don't worry you two." Careful not to break any branches, the three moved very slowly, trying to make sure they weren't followed.

"Hey, what's that?" The youngest out of the three pointed out a figure. Strangely, a stick was pointed at the soft part behind his chin and pointed up. They moved fast, but widened their eyes to see a blue haired man closing his eyes as he held the stick tighter. The problem with that sight was that the object wasn't a stick.

It was a rifle.

"What are you doing?" The youngest out of the three ran forward and pushed the gun away from his head as a bullet flew harmlessly into the sky. The suicidal soldier opened his surprised red eyes, but they turned into orbs of hatred as his face twisted into a snarl. The next thing anybody knew, he was thrown upon the youngest soldier. He pulled out a pistol and held it against his head as he pinned it down.

"Stand down soldier! Stand down!" The man with the cap held his sub-machine gun against his head. The blue haired man slowly threw away his pistol, getting off the young boy. He didn't speak; he only picked up his rifle and started walking.

"Hey! Where are you going?" The man with brown hair and green eyes asked with hostility, aiming his gun at his fellow comrade. The man with the cap put a hand on his gun and made him lower it.

"Whoever you are, do you know where you're going?" The blue haired man turned around and scoffed.

"I'm getting away from here." The Neolian capped man ran and put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

"Come with us. We're finding a way back to a Neolian base. Come on." The blue haired man shook his head. He kept on walking where he was going.

"Wait!" The capped man followed him. The two younger Neolian soldiers looked at each other and sighed. They saw the pattern, but decided to follow them.

#####

The Neolian captain sighed. He looked at the screen of his completely flat light computer. It was floating in the air as he looked at other screens of other things. But the one he looked at was one that was showing all of his soldiers under his command. He saw that Sergeant Kail has gone AWOL. The captain furrowed his brow, brushing his finger over a part of the soldier's status.

**SEND MAVERICK SCOUT SOLDIER?**

The captain hesitated, but pressed it down.

**COMMAND RECEIVED. MAVERICK SCOUT SOLDIER NOW DEPLOYING**

"I trust that you will do the right thing captain," A man said behind the captain. The officer clenched his fist.

"Is Type-25 really ready?" The scientist behind him cackled.

"Neo Project Testament is underdevelopment. That is the only thing I can say. Now, the real test begins. Search and Destroy captain, let's hope _the fool_ does its job." The scientist cackled once more, causing the captain to cringe.

#####

**I decided to take a small break from the hell experience of war and place these people in Rosetta Village. Notice that they don't know much about their outside world. They only know what is inside of their perimeter. And what is going to happen to these four Neolian soldiers? Keep reading, and sorry for tormenting you with a short and late post! **


	12. Popcorn

Neon War Chatper 12 Popcorn! (Rosetta Arc)

Just a word before continuing, thank you veterans for being a part of America, we admire your courage, your valor, your duty, but most of all, your return home. Thank you for fighting for us, we don't know where we would be without you. Support our troops! No matter what the situation of our country!

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"What do you mean DB's gone?" Skye half yelled, half asked. Scout grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her in place.

"Woah, woah, Skye! Calm down! We're not completely sure he's dead, but he must've fallen out of the helicopter when we were being tailed by mavericks. We were flying in low altitude, so he shouldn't have been hurt that bad," Scout said in a solid voice. Skye gritted her teeth and gave it her all to calm herself down. She saw him get onto the helicopter after the prison was secured. He was Darkblur, he wouldn't be dying from some pathetic fall off a helicopter!

"We're assembling a search team along with the Wardog division to get back into the search. Get ready!" Scout said as he readied to go out almost as soon as he said what he said.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" Molly asked Scout.

"It's Darkblur, of course he'll be alright. One way or another, we're getting him back."

#####

"Dammit!" Darkblur threw his communication device at the ground. He grunted as he limped out of the shade of a small rock cliff. Just his luck, electronic disturbance. Kurois took surrounding of where he was, he must've gotten knocked out on the fall last night. The only thing he found was a pistol, which was strapped to his thy. Through clenched teeth, he did a damage report on himself.

'_Twisted and sprained left ankle, few cuts, a huge bruise on my head. Perfect.'_ Kurois looked through his blue colored eye slid HUD. The blue letterings on it were nothing but static. He grunted and reached for a beam knife on his left shoulder. He looked at the hilt, noticing the small compass on the bottom. He found his bearings, and started moving by grabbing a sturdy branch off the ground to use as support. The branch in one hand, a loaded handgun in the other. He grunted at every move, the pain searing through his ankle. A normal person wouldn't even be able to move, but Kurois fought through.

Luckily for him, he didn't have to fight long.

"Hey look! It's another mister!" Kurois gasped and hid behind a tree.

"Does he have a gun too? I wanna see!" Kurois poked his head out of the tree, surprised to see two little kids walking towards him. They were dressed completely in green, matching the green foliage all around. Their silver hair and gold eyes were the only things that Kurois could make out.

"Hey, this guy looks like the other normal guys! He's not wearing a monster costume!"

"A… monster costume?" Darkblur asked aloud. The two kids were equally surprised to hear him talk back. But the oldest of the two replied back,

"Yeah! Two people were covered in like, leaves and stuff! It was pretty cool!" Darkblur's attention perked up at that. A sniper's clothing.

"Hey, can you two take me to the monster costume guys?" The kids gave off a huge grin and nodded.

"Yeah! Let's go!" They run off before Kurois could say anything. After a second of a blank stare, he yelled out to them,

"Hey! Hey! Wait!" Kurois tried to go as fast as he could, but he ended up falling on his bad ankle.

"**YOW!**"

#####

The ground sank through the mud as the boots of the Neolian soldiers trudged through. The red eyed, blue haired soldier silently led the way while the other three cautiously followed, as if expecting him to turn around and open fire to his own team. His hostility was present just from the way he didn't even bother to move quietly. In fact, it looked like he was trying to get them noticed.

"Hey, wanna quiet down?" The blonde snorted. His rifle sling was hung around his neck.

"Shut up." That was the only reply he got.

"Sir, what should we do bout him?" The brown haired boy mouthed to him.

"I don't know," the capped man mouthed back. The blue haired boy stopped. He took a chance to look at his surroundings, especially at the valley like area they were in. Rocks covered in moss were the only things they could see for a couple yards. He stops and takes a seat on a rock, taking his shoe and emptying the pebble that got in. The blonde haired guy gritted his teeth.

"Come on! Are you seriously going to act like this the entire trip back?" The blonde asked.

"I thought you wanted it to be quiet. And I'm not going back," The red eyes peered through the blonde's.

"And why is that?" The capped captain asked. Before the blue haired man could answer, a silver haired, gold eyed girl in a red dress was leaning forward and staring into the eyes of the brown eyed boy, who was sitting down too. She didn't make any noise in coming, and the only action she took was a blink when the boy fell back.

"Where the hell did you come from?" The boy asked, raising his sub machine gun. The girl giggled, squatting down and putting a finger in the barrel. By this time, everybody was staring at both of them.

"Hey! You've got to watch out!" She exclaimed as she moved the gun up and down with her finger.

"Don't move!" the capped man commanded; his gun at his hip.

"This place is called snake valley!" the girl said, completely oblivious to the threat. The brown eyed boy narrowed his eyes, but then turned to his right shoulder at the sound of a hiss, and screamed at the top of his lungs as he batted the leathery reptile away. The other three jumped; startled at the hiss and his scream, and then opened fire on where the snake was dropped off. The brown eyed boy joined with his teammates, firing their automatics and making the rock look like gray and green Swiss cheese. The gunfire stopped, and hollow clicks followed after. The four looked at their guns, then at each other, then at the brown haired boy.

"I hate snakes!" The boy yelled out. The four then realized their mistake in opening fire, their weapons were now empty. The only things that were of use to them now were their grenades and the single pistol from the capped man. After a session of watching, the girl popped up from behind a rock.

"WOAH! I never heard anything make noise like that, EVER!" The girl exclaimed. She had an almost goofy smile and looked from one Neolian face to the other.

"Now, are you guys going to stay here and get bit? Getting bit is awful! I'm going back to my village, see ya!" She said as she skipped away nonchalantly. The blonde stared at her with a blank stare, before reaching for the capped man's pistol and bringing it out.

"You crazy bitch!" It took the two others to hold him back, and it took the red eyed man to knock the gun from his hand.

"That's enough! She's not a threat, that's for sure," The red eyed man said, speaking more than he ever spoke before.

"And how the hell do you know that? Huh?" The blonde spat. The blonde slowly calmed down. There he was, scared out of his wits from just a stupid snake, and that girl was just prancing along?

"Listen to me. We pointed guns at her and yelled and she didn't even blink. She even put her goddamn finger in the barrel!" The capped man exclaimed. "Where ever she's going, I doubt there's any army there. Let's follow her, eat up, spend the night, then leave. Sounds good?" The capped man said as he took charge. The blonde shook him and the brunette off.

"Fucking snakes, fucking girl, fuck… everything!" The blonde said as he picked up his empty weapon and started to walk with the others. The red eyed man stayed back, watching the others leave.

"Hey, are you coming?" The brunette asked. The red eyed man blinked, and then looked down at the rock he used to sit on. A snake slithered from below it, and that's when he sighed and decided to follow.

#####

"Right over here mister!" The two kids ran through a clearing in the woods; not turning back to see if Darkblur was following short. Kurois growled at how quick the little kids were, but stared with his mouth open at the sight he saw. A giant tree in the middle was sheltering a bird's nest and held a swing that was occupied by little kids. Around the tree was the entire village, all made of different materials put together. Some buildings were formed completely of wood, and some were formed completely of metal and bricks, but the buildings didn't seem to matter to the silver haired golden eyed group of people.

The villagers were all occupied with something; making lanterns or fixing light bulbs, welding pieces of metal together, or even cooking for the upcoming dinner. The sun was slowly setting, and the sky grew slightly dimmer from before. The people stared at the newcomer, stopping what they were doing and taking a glance at the soldier. Curious golden eyes glanced at his steel toe boots to his grey armor, to the HUD slide over his eye.

"Village Chief! Look! We brought another one!" The kids Kurois saw from before were taking the hands of a man and bringing him towards him. The village chief's long white hair and wrinkled face along with his hunched back and cane gave Kurois the conclusion that he was close to eighty.

"Ah, I see. Let us treat this new guest like the others then. Michael!" The village chief rasped. A man with glasses came about, wearing tan khaki pants and a brown jacket over a white t-shirt. In his hands was a large book.

"Yes village chief?"

"Show this man where to go to find the hospital."

"Yes village chief," Michael said as he grabbed Kurois's elbow. "Come, the hospital area should be at the far end of the village, it shouldn't take too long. I was on my way there anyway." Kurois was a bit shaky on the idea of him holding his elbow, but with idea of medical attention, he was more than willing. The two walked through the village, getting the glances of the entire village. The Raptor looked forward, trying not to meet the awkward glances that came his way.

"Here we are," Michael said as he opened the door to the hospital. Upon instinct, Kurois raised his pistol at a blonde on a bed with a pistol in his hand. The others immediately pulled out their concealed weapons, pointing them towards the sudden intruder.

"Woah buddy, mistook you for a Neolian for a second there!" Howey grinned. His cigarette was centimeters away from burning out, but he dragged it until the last burned out. Kurois lowered his pistol, sighing.

"Scared me Kurois," Jonsey managed to chuckle. Kurois blinked, then looked at the sleeping form of Ash Ketchum on the next bed. Already, another bed was going to be set up for Kurois for his medical needs.

"Go on young man, sit down first before playing with guns," Michael waved his hand. Darkblur stayed silent, giving him a half glare, half puzzled look. He laid down, showing no expression as he lifted himself and sat down. Right as he did so, a young lady walked in. She was slightly older than the one that was previously there with the others, but she looked the same physically with the same hair and eye color. She was taller, but her hair was tied up in a ponytail, despite her older appearance.

"Can you please take your clothes off?" Kurois blinked, looking around to see if she was talking to anybody else. The other soldiers were smugly grinning at him; nope.

"Um… Why?"

"Well, it _is _a hospital, and those clothes look very dirty," The woman said. She reached for a folded bundle of white clothes from a closet next to her. Darkblur sighed in relief, he thought he was about to get some other treatment besides a medical one. Under the covers, Kurois switched his clothes with the white clothing, politely handing his dirty clothes to the woman. She smiled and she walked away with his clothes, wherever they may be.

What he didn't hand to her was a small pouch and his 9 mil pistol. It was a strange pouch for a military man, having a purple like pouch. He reached in, taking out a pair of purple fingerless gloves. He slipped them on; taking out a glasses case afterwards. He pressed a button, causing the top (The long part) to swivel in a counterclockwise motion, revealing the glasses inside. He pulled them out, slipping on the rectangular glasses. Jonsey widened his eyes, this was the first time he ever saw him like this. If he didn't know he was a soldier, he would've mistaken him for a regular high school student.

Kurois caught the others staring, who quickly looked away from his icy eyes turning to meet theirs. He sighed, and put his hands behind his head as he tried to relax, but he couldn't because of how vulnerable they were…

#####

"Teacher Michael!" The girl exclaimed as she ran through the forest. It was getting dark now and the Neolian soldiers were anxiously moving through with their empty weapons. Michael was present at the opening of a clearing, smiling as he saw the girl. The little kids around him looked his way too, their almost goofy happy expressions meeting the frightened Neolian faces.

"Why hello-" Michael's smile quickly disappeared as his hands shot up in the sky immediately. The Neolians pointed their weapons at him, gulping. If he knew what these guns were, does that mean that the village they're going to knows about them too?

"Teacher Michael, why are your hands up like that" The girl cocked her head to the side.

"Just follow and do what I do, and don't talk too much." The kids around him put their hands up, along with the girl. Five minutes through, the group of them were getting bored and the kids started to sing a nursery rhyme.

"Kids, let's keep quiet now," The capped Neolian officer said in a soft, but commanding voice. The kids looked at him and stopped… but they continued about a minute later, not even bothering to put up their hands. Their voices easily cut through the woods, and the anxious levels of the Neolian soldiers rose. Not only that, but the kids were now running in circles around them. The red eyed Neolian exhaled, this was going to be a long trip…

#####

"Maaan! This food is just awesome! I never thought a meatless meal like this could taste so good!" Todd exclaimed as he sat on a foldable chair outside. The Aeonians were sitting around a large square table along with the villagers, talking amongst them in the fire-lit night. The table was very low, so everybody was sitting on the grass. Next to the Aeonian soldiers were their weapons, ready to fight back if ever necessary. Their original under garments for their military uniforms were on them, all nice and clean already. Kurois didn't join them, not that he could move anyway.

"So, there's a war?" A villager asked Ash.

"Yeah!" He said in between spoonfuls of potato soup.

"Who is it this time? Is it the people from the East?" A man asked. Most of them were focusing on Ash, especially his strange eating habits.

"Well, no. It's from the North."

"The north? There's nothing north besides Aeolian land!" A woman remarked.

"Wait… Aeolian? Not Aeonian?" Ash asked.

"You're an outsider and you don't even know the name of your country? My, my," The woman answered.

"Hey look, here comes Mikey with the kids," A man said. Everybody turned towards the clearing of the woods, staring intently at a group of singing kids run past, and then a man with his hands up walking right after. The girl skipped past, not really paying attention to anything that was happening.

"Hello everyone, I've brought some guests," Michael said, his hands lowering.

"Guests?" Todd frowned. Michael stepped aside to reveal the dark blue uniformed Neolians that were standing in the clearing. For a couple seconds, no body moved or made a sound, only the widening of eyes of the opposing soldiers as they met eyes. The capped officer made the first move, pushing Michael aside as he aimed his rifle towards Jonsey.

"Son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" The Neolians yelled, as the Aeonians picked up their own weapons and pointed them at the Neolian soldiers as they got up. The bad thing was that the villagers that got up with them were in the firing line, so the opposing military men couldn't see each other, except through the gaps the villagers made.

"Get down! Get down!" Ash yelled as his sniper rifle was cocked and ready to fire at a blue haired soldier, who pointed his weapon back at him also. By this time, the villagers were asking what was going on, flinching as they heard the shouts of the soldiers.

"Get the kids out of here!" The blue haired Neolian yelled out as Michael took the kids and ran off to a building.

"Just calm down folks! Don't move a muscle!" Howey said as he held his sub-machine gun at his shoulder, aiming towards a youth soldier.

"Move! Mother fucker, Move!" The Blonde yelled out as he pushed somebody with the barrel of his gun. Now, it was the Neolians on one side of the table, the Aeonians on the other side of the table, and the villagers in between. More shouts were heard as the villagers finally calmed down. This was a stalemate, nobody could shoot anybody at the moment, and they couldn't bring themselves to.

"Sure, there's no army here! Nice job!" The brunette said with a panicked voice towards the capped officer.

"Hey! What's wrong? Why aren't you pulling the trigger?" The blue haired Neolian called out to Ash, who gritted his teeth and gathered up the nerve to reply,

"Why aren't you?"

"You're ready to fire, bring it on!" The blonde yelled out. The brunette slowly turned his head towards the blonde and said aloud,

"Hey, don't talk to tough; we don't have any bullets remember?" Unfortunately for him, everybody quieted down at that comment, and every one of his teammates turned away from their targets, lowered their guns, and gave the kid a glare of unbelief. The brunette seemed to shrink as he stood, if that was possible.

"Come on; let's not cause any trouble here. Put the gun down; let's settle this somewhere else," Jonsey said aloud.

"It's okay, we'll be alright," A villager said to Jonsey with a smile.

"Daniel," The village chief said his name in a scolding voice, but didn't raise it. Daniel's smile faded as he sighed. The capped officer slowly lowered his rifle, raising a hand as he let go of the barrel…

And then he turned to the blonde, reached onto his vest, and pulled out a grenade. The Aeonians grimaced, gritting their teeth even harder as they stared down the barrel of their guns.

"Listen. If any one of you ever tries to make a move, this whole area will be covered with corpses, you hear?" The capped officer yelled out loud. He threw down his rifle, holding the grenade in one hand as he held the pin with the other. His teammates did the same, all except the blue haired red eyed man, he reluctantly reached for the capped man's pistol and pointed it towards Ash.

"Son of a bitch," Todd swore as he adjusted his sub-machine gun. Seconds became minutes as they clenched their guns and their teeth, breathing hard as they kept each other in their sights. Ash's finger lightly squeezed the trigger until one of the villagers asked,

"Is that a potato?"

"No, I don't think so. It looks like a painted rock."

"If that's a potato, my wife eats four of those every day, I'm so sick of them!"

"I'm pretty sure it's a rock."

"SHUT UP!" The capped man yelled out, obviously annoyed.

"Do you know what this thing can do? If I use this, you're all goners! Put your hands up!" The officer yelled out.

"Where will we go?" A villager asked.

"Just do as he says folks," The blue haired man said quietly. The villagers did as they were told, slowly

"What's going on here?" Everybody tuned their heads to the opening of a bunch of bushes, meeting the puzzled face of a man with a walking stick and a makeshift backpack made out of sticks and rope. It must've been humorous for him to see, two sides of different uniformed men pointing sticks at each other, and a group of his village people sticking their hands up while standing on a table.

"Hey, get up there," The capped Neolian motioned with his hand. He looked at the villagers, then at the capped man.

"Hurry!"

"Yeah, these guys are pretty riled up."

"Just come over here before they start yelling even more, my ears hurt." The man slowly set his stuff down as he awkwardly stepped up onto the already crowded table.

"Hey, everybody-"

"Put your hands up first!"

"Why?"

"Just do it!" He immediately put his hands up, anxious to tell the news he had.

"Okay, okay. But guess what? While I was checking the bee-hives, I saw wild boars that rooted a path through our fields! Not just a couple, but at least a dozen!"

"Ah no! Last time, the wild boars ruined all our corn and we starved for the whole winter!"

"We can't starve for another winter!"

"Now, now, everybody, let's calm down and talk this over quietly," The village chief calmly stated.

"Let's calm down guys, I've got an idea!" Another villager said as he lowered his hands, "You grab the wild boar by the ear, then punch him three times in the eye! When he goes to all his friends, he'll tell them, 'Don't go near Rosetta guys! It's a terrible place!' I mean, what would you do if you got beat up and went to your friends?"

"I'd bring all my friends with me and beat up who ever beat me up!" Another villager criticized.

"Oh… well… we can't do that then, that's too many eyes to punch…" The villager with the suggestion's head was lowered as his idea was shot down immediately. The capped man's left eye twitched, and his hands gripped his grenade tighter. His voice started off low, and then increased as he went on.

"I have a grenade in my hand… and all you worry about is a couple of BOARS?"

A loud knock was heard as Kurois stumbled and fell on the ground as he tried to walk, only swearing at the pain he received from the fall. When he looked up, he was startled at the Neolian soldiers and the Aeolian soldiers having a stand off with the villagers.

"Now who the fuck is that?" The blonde asked. Kurois, knowing that he looked like a villager himself, decided to pick himself up as quickly as he could and stumbled back into the hospital area followed by another cuss.

"Hey, isn't that guy with them, or them?"

"I don't know, want to go ask him?"

"I think he's with the blue people."

"Now, now, everybody, let's not make assumptions."

"Sir… this village sure is weird," The brown haired boy told the capped man.

"Shut up dammit! Everybody, sit down on the table!" The officer yelled out. The villagers slowly sit down on the table, some even falling off the sides as they tried to sit down. Now, each opposing side could see each other clearer, and now their eyes met in a stare down through the night…

#####

The birds chirped in the fresh morning, flying by the people from last night. The soldiers had their weapons at their hips, massaging their shoulders from holding whatever they had in their hands for such a long time. The villagers in the middle were mostly asleep, slouched on one another as they struggled to stay on the table.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Son uva bitch!" Two kids were now running around the table, reciting what they heard the previous night. Completely oblivious of what they were saying, they kept saying it as they circled the entire group of people.

"Mother fucker!"

"Motha fucka!"

"Son ova bitch!"

"Son of a bitch!" The soldiers were slightly slouching over, but their weapons and their hands were still steady, ready to pull the trigger, or pull the pin. They've been staying there for such a long time, but then one of the kids stood up from the sitting group. He must've gotten dragged along with the other villagers.

"Hey! Sit down!" The blonde yelled out.

"Sir, I've gotta go to the outhouse," The kid was too startled to move.

"It's all right, go ahead. Don't pee your pants," the village chief said, letting the boy go. The boy leapt off, heading towards wherever he needed to go. Right after, the bee-hive man stood up.

"Sir, please, sit down!" Ash said as he motioned with his rifle.

"Gonna go check up on the bee hives, you stay here okay?" The man said as he picked up his stuff and went to wherever he needed to go. The soldiers looked at each other, and then sighed as slowly, the villagers stood up one by one.

#####

Rain drops splattered on the soldier's heads and their shoulders, running down their faces and necks to soak their clothing and their weaponry. The eight soldiers were almost slumped an invisible object, struggling to keep their focus.

"How the hell did the weather change so fast?" Todd groaned. No one replied, they were either too tired or they just didn't want to. The villagers that used to be on the now empty table were now sitting or standing under shelter from the rain, laughing and talking together as the eight just stood there. However, one villager was enjoying the rain, dancing in it as she sighed happily. It was the girl in the red dress, now with a gray sweater over it. She didn't even seemed fazed by the giant sized rain drops, she actually smiled as she sat down on the table in between the soldiers and closed her eyes as she sighed once again into the sky. Her smile turned to a grin, but her grin turned into a look of curiosity as she looked at each of the soldiers.

She stared at Ash's finger on the trigger, tightening on it as the raindrops landed on his head and his weapon. And then she turned to see the Blonde's finger tighten around the pin on his grenade.

The blonde was panting hard, trying to keep warm, and he stopped holding the pin as he rubbed his arms and closed his eyes, blinking away all the rain. Once he opened them again, the first thing he saw was the girl. His first instinct was to back away, but he stopped as she pulled out a dry handkerchief, wiping away the rain from his face like a mother would do to her son. He blinked, his mouth curving upwards in the slightest bit. He was so off guard that he didn't even notice what the girl did next. She ran off, skipping until she was at a formidable distance. She then turned around with a strange piece of metal twirling around her finger.

"Hey look! A ring!" She yelled before she took off again. The blonde blinked twice, then looked down at his grenade, then back up at the running girl, and then his glance shot to his hand. Everybody now was yelling out in horror as the safety pin was off, and the only thing left was the clip that kept the fuse from igniting. Even Ash, who was practically asleep on his feet, widened his eyes and screamed in terror.

"You crazy fool!" Howey yelled out, his gun now against his shoulder again.

"You can't even take care of a grenade?" The red eyed Neolian yelled out.

"Hold it firmly! HOLD IT FIRMLY!" The officer said. The villagers were staring at the blonde, laughing inwardly at how the blonde was shaking with a painted rock (Or a potato) in his hands. The blonde, through all this, was shaking as his hands were stiffened in a death grip around the explosive…

#####

The thick haze surrounded the eight, the heat making it almost unbearable for them. Their sweat glistened on their faces and their necks, their clothing or armor stained from their perspiration. However, the eight were worse than before, and their guns were barely even pointing at the other person. Their grenades were almost to their sides. All except the blonde's hands, which were still firmly gripping the round explosive. The bad thing was that the blonde was nearly asleep on his feet as he struggled to right the heaviness in his eyelids.

"Now kids, listen to teacher Michael. You all want to grow up as smart as him right?"

"Yes!" The kids all said.

"Now, this letter is a T. Repeat it, T."

"T!" The kids replied. By this time, the soldiers were slouched over, some were even snoring. The blonde's eyes closed, and then his muscles relaxed and his hand let go of the grenade. The explosive's clip fell off the grenade, and the only thing left was the round explosive, rolling under the table and towards the left side of the Aeolians, towards a shack. The soldiers all wake up from the sound, and widen their eyes.

"GET DOWN!"

"TAKE COVER!" The soldiers all scream as they take a couple steps before diving away from the explosive. Ash threw his sniper on the ground, diving towards the grenade, but the red eyed Neolian was doing the same. Their heads collided in mid air, making them fall short of where their planned dive was going to be. The two look up at the grenade before quickly pushing their heads down behind their arms, ready for the explosion…

Which never came. A villager even walked over the two as he went to grab something from the table earlier that he forgot, dusting off the object as he whistled while he walked back. Ash and the red eyed Neolian slowly grunt as they look up at the grenade, expecting it to go off at any moment, but Ash then quickly grabbed the grenade and went stayed there. The red eyed Neolian stepped back next to his team mates, who moved slowly one side to the left. The Aeolians stepped next to Ash, moving one step to the left.

"Hey… you think this is a dud too?" The brown haired boy asked the officer, who shot him the dirtiest look he had ever seen. Ash stared at the red eyed Neolian, watching as a trail of blood tricked from his nose. Ash couldn't help but laugh, and threw the grenade behind him leisurely. The grenade sounded like it hit a wooden object, and the sound got fainter and fainter as it traveled to wherever…

And then that's when the soldiers stumbled from the loud explosion that rocked the village. It felt like it was in slow motion for everybody there; the shack behind the Aeolians blew sky high, blowing up food into the air in the process. Corn seeds flew up protected from the explosion. But as they stayed up there, their seed forms popped and turned into a white substance. The snow like substances slowly fluttered back down to the earth. The villagers were marveling at the sight of snow falling down at them in the hottest part of the day.

The village chief blinked as popcorn hit his face, bouncing off along with the other popcorn. The girl in the red dress was jumping up and down happily along with the other kids. Even Kurois came out to blink open mouthed at the sight. This sight made the blonde laugh, but his laugh was cut short as popcorn softly hit his face. His eyes slowly closed, and his head tilted forward. Ash's eyes closed as his head was tilted back with his mouth open, catching some of the popcorn there. Jonsey tilted his head to the side, his eyes almost shut as he slowly blinks. The red eyed Neolian slowly blinked twice, watching the villagers happily marvel at the snowing popcorn, and a slight smirk was put on his face as his world went black as he hunched over with pieces of popcorn stuck in his hair.

#####

Weeeeeird. Haha, this is sort of a break from all the fighting for me, cause I don't want it to be constant fighting everytime! I want to spice things up a little! Sorry for my ridiculously late post and I want to thank all of you who reviewed on the previous chapters, I never really got to thank you! I hope you review again for this chapter, and don't lose faith! I'm just really slow! Stay tuned!


	13. A new flame, another golden lining

TNW 13 Another flame, another gold lining.

Hey! Sorry about the really long time… I was originally gonna make this along with the other chapter, but I wanted to update and get this part over with. And it's December! YEAH! Even though none of you are reading or replying! YEAH! Hahaha, I'm such a loser… Go and read the story!

#####

"Hey, Mari, you okay?" Cyphrus asked as he was sitting on a chair near the white bed that Mari was on. Her eye right eye slowly opened up, and she turned so that she could face her brother.

"God, I hate these dreams," Mari sniffled. Cyphrus chuckled and pinched her cheek,

"This isn't a dream dummy!" Cyphrus laughed as a small tear escaped from his eye. Mari blinked, and extended her hand towards Cyphrus. She flicked his forehead in disbelief. That was when she started to cry, gripping his hand as tight as she could with her frail body. The blanket almost flew from her sitting up, revealing her white hospital clothes.

"It took you long enough Cy!" Mari cried as she sat up and extended her arms so that her brother could stand up and hug her back. Together, they cried and held each other for as long as they could, hugging away all of the lost time that they had between them. Mari let go and finally looked out of the window at a cloud filled sky. The sun was shining through the white clouds, and she could've never felt this free.

"I finally found you," Cyphrus said as he let go, showing her his signature grin. Mari laughed,

"Same old smile, never ceases to calm me," Mari smiled back, their resemblances were clearly shown. Her smile disappeared though, feeling for her left eye, only to feel a white bandage.

"Ah, don't touch. What happened?" Cyphrus asked, his grin disappearing also. Mari's face turned grave, giving Cyphrus an eye filled with hate.

"Right before you guys came; they tried to interrogate my friend. She was only five, and they threatened to beat her if she didn't speak up. Apparently, she was the daughter of one of the officers in the Aeonian military. Cyphrus, she was only five years old! And they slapped her…" Mari looked down at her hand, watching it clench as she grit her teeth.

"I couldn't stand it, so I ended up slugging one of the guards in the face. I think I broke his nose, cause he was bleeding. That was when they took me to a room and started to kick me…" Mari closed her eyes and tried to spit out what happened. Cyphrus put a hand on her shoulder, frowning because he was afraid of what he was about to hear.

"Then the guy I punched took out a knife and…" Mari put a hand over the bandage over her left eye. "This happened." Cyphrus grimaced,

"Damn… must've hurt like a bitch," Cyphrus said, but Mari's expression softened up.

"It was worth it if you ask me; I've been holding a giant grudge on that one guard too. Not only that, but they didn't ask her anymore questions." Mari opened up her eye, reflecting the same fire that Cyphrus had in his. Cyphrus shook her head,

"You're crazy."

"Yeah, well, you're the one who stupidly ran around and got shot in the chest three times!" Mari retorted.

"Hey! That was for you!" Cyphrus glared.

"I could've taken him!" Mari yelled.

"Says the hostage who had a gun pointed to her head, why can't you just be the good damsel in distress? She doesn't question her savior's method of saving her!" Cyphrus said as he got closer to her.

"Some savior you are! You aren't even the guy who took him down! You're so reckless! How are _you, _of all people, supposed to be the 'chosen one' they were all talking about?" Mari said as her forehead butted his. They both let out a growl, but then stopped abruptly. They laughed right after.

"Look at us, fighting as if it was a couple years ago," Mari giggled. Cyphrus laughed too, but he stopped.

'_A couple years ago huh? it seemed so long.' _

"Hey. Mari. I need to give you something," Cyphrus said as he reached into his pocket. Mari blinked, waiting for what he was about to give her. Her eye widened as he pulled out a golden cross necklace.

"That's-"

"Yeah. You know what this means right?" Cyphrus asked as his eyes averted her stare. Mari's expression turned into a saddened one, realizing that Cyphrus was the only family she had left. Tears started to form around her good eye, shakily opening her palm so that the golden necklace slowly fell on her hand. She clenched it, and then closed her eye and held it close to her chest.

"Oh Cyphrus…" Mari said as she started to sob. Cyphrus brought her to his chest, hugging her as tightly as he could. Mari's tears kept flowing, and her sobs eventually turned into wails.

"First Mom… and now Dad and Ethan?" Mari asked Cyphrus.

"…Yeah." Cyphrus replied, he looked down; his tears on his lost family were already spent.

"Guess you're all I have left now," Mari sobbed.

"Yeah," Cyphrus replied again.

"It must've been so hard for you too," Mari sobbed again.

"Yeah… it was. But hey, at least we have each other right?" Cyphrus said as he let go of Mari and held her shoulders. He held her out in front of him, wiping the tears away with his thumb. Mari could only nod in agreement, her sobs turning into sniffles.

"Now come on, put it on," Cyphrus instructed as he pulled out his own from under his shirt. Mari did as she was told; taking the necklace and connecting it so that it hung from her neck and fell at her chest.

"Haha, it looks great. No wonder our last name is Cross," Cyphrus chuckled. That got Mari to laugh and wipe away her own tears. Right as she did so, Lily came in through the sliding door. She smiled at the sight of the two smiling.

'_Cyphrus, you've finally found what you've been fighting for.'_

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," Lily grinned as she leaned against the door frame. Cyphrus and Mari both looked at her at the same time.

"Nah. Not really," Mari sniffled.

"What is it?" Cyphrus asked, blinking. Lily's grin turned into thin line at her mouth.

"We've finally grouped a small search and rescue team. We're going to head out soon." Next to Lily was the floating biometal, Model C.

"_It's not a big S and R team, but it'll do for now."_

"Alright. Mari, is it okay if I…?" Cyphrus turned to face Mari. Her expression turned into a frown.

"Cyphrus… if you do, promise me you'll come back." Cyphrus stood up, showing off a grin as he walked out of the door. He had a hand on the door frame, looking back at her.

"Don't worry. I won't make a promise that I'll break. I thought you knew me already!" Cyphrus gave her a confident smirk. Mari shook her head in disbelief, scoffing.

"You're such an idiot big brother." Cyphrus laughed.

"See ya." Cyphrus walked out of the room.

"Wait." Cyphrus's hand held the sliding door before it could close, poking his head through into the room.

"Yeah?"

"Can you at least tell me what you're doing?" Mari asked. Cyphrus smirked, her curiosity was still in its best shape. As he turned around to leave, he told her this:

"I'm keeping a promise."

#####

Ah, it's so damn short (That's what she said, lol). And yeah! Cyphrus finally found his sis! WHOO! Well, this might be the last time before I post on TNW, so see ya till then! I'm gonna make a TNW Christmas story, so stay tuned! Later!


	14. We're Supposed to Be Enemies

TNW 14

Quick shout out to all of my reviewers, I love you all! Thanks for reviewing, and please, review, cause it's a really uplifting thing to read good criticism and comments!

#####

"Nnng…" Ash slowly opened his eyes to see the blurred white ceiling. He groaned once from his back, which ached from all of the standing that he had to do. He heard another groan, followed by an unfamiliar voice:

"Man, my back is killing me…!" Ash turns to his right, and widens his eyes to see the Neolian boy on the bed to his right. The Neolian boy turned left also, and shouted as he got up. The two shot up from their beds, screaming and going to one end of the room. This woke up the rest of the soldiers in the room, making them all get up and take a side in the room. Ash, Todd, Howey, and Jonsey were on one side, and the blue haired boy, the blonde, the once capped man, and the brunette on the other. Everybody seemed to be looking at the blonde, who had a small flower in his ear.

"Aw come on, not this again," The brown haired boy grimaced, not noticing the flower.

"Oh! You're awake." Everybody turned to look out of the door of the small hut that they were in. Kurois was sitting with the village chief with a small mug of coffee. The Neolians ran out, grabbing anything they could find. Only the capped man picked up a crude hoe.

"Hey. None of that here. This man here promised that there would be no fighting," the village chief said with a frown. He pointed to Kurois, who was nodding.

"Promised? Sir, you don't know these savages yet!" The Blonde said aloud. The Aeonians clenched their fists and let out a sigh to fight the urge to start another fight. Kurois seemed to have kept the promise true, because none of their weaponry was seen. He got up suddenly, and the capped man reared back his weapon to get ready to swing.

"If you really want blood," Kurois glared, "find yourself a sharper tool." From behind Kurois's back, he took out a sickle that gleamed in the sunlight. The Neolians reluctantly lowered their fists and stood there in a stare down until one of the village women called out to them:

"Everybody! Let's eat!" The group of soldiers ate in silence with the Aeonians in one table and the Neolians in another. While they were eating, their trained ears could hear the murmurs of the village people.

"There is nothing left in the storage room, what are we to do?"

"It's going to take forever to harvest those crops again, especially with the boars tearing up our plantations!"

"It's all the new comers' faults, if they didn't come, this wouldn't have happened."

"Oh hush, they're nice gentlemen. I don't think they mean any harm." After a while of murmuring, the once capped Neolian got up.

"Comrades." The rest of the Neolians looked up at him,

"Come with me." In a matter of a couple of minutes, the Neolians grabbed whatever farming tool that they needed and headed out with the rest of the villagers to work.

"Hey, now's our chance to leave now isn't it?" Howey asked the rest of the Aeonians.

"I don't know, I feel bad" Ash said.

"Well, the faster we get out the better," Todd said with a frown.

"I dunno, with Kurois here injured, I don't know what we should do…" Jonsey said as if he was thinking aloud.

"We should wait at least a week," Todd replied, taking a glance at Kurois, who was currently being dragged away from the kids despite his protests.

"We might as well work for these guys then right?" Ash asked. The other three looked at each other, and then at the food in front of them. Whatever they were given, it wasn't as much as last night. It seemed as if the food was scarce already, and now it just got even worse with the limited food storage and supply.

"Alright. Let's go. This time, let's try not to kill each other," Jonsey said as he got up with the other three to pick up whatever tools they needed in order to work in the fields.

#####

"Man, as if my back hurt enough already…" Ash complained as he took a small rest from pulling up potatoes from the ground. The crude hand woven basket that was hanging from his back was only half full, but he continued on with the pang of guilt of blowing up the food supply yesterday. It looked like the village they were in was located in a dense forest, and a couple of miles away were a bunch of hills, each cultivating crops. The fact that they were pretty high up surprised them, despite their long plummet before all of this happened.

"Tell me about it, and I thought boot camp was pretty bad," Jonsey said as he worked with a sickle. The four Aeonian workers worked hard along with the villagers, easily learning their techniques and tools.

"What do you think they're up to?" The Blonde asked the brunette from a distance, still working of course.

"I don't know, they look pretty hard working to me…"

"That's what they want you to think," the Blonde said again. The brunette gulped before turning to the capped man.

"Captain, how about we just lay low and pick potatoes for a while, then regroup when the counter-attack happens?" The capped man didn't respond.

"Here's a better idea, how about we kill them first?" The blonde hissed. This earned a glare from the captain and the blue haired boy.

"Just keep working," The captain said with a growl. The captain stood up, taking his basket to one of the people to get an empty one. The brunette and the blonde both looked at each other before looking towards the Aeonians.

"I still think we should kill them," the blonde growled.

"Hey, you wanna talk any louder?" Howey called to the blonde. He was chewing on a thin piece of grain, replacing his cigarette with whatever he could find. The blonde stood up and clenched his fists.

"Shut up! I didn't ask you!" The blonde yelled aloud. This turned all of the soldier's heads, and they instantly got into combat mode, ready to attack.

"Are you seriously asking for a fight?" Howey slowly approached the blonde kid. The blonde kid walked right over to him and got right in his face.

"What? You wanna go?" The blonde kid pushed Howey, who took a small step back and reared his right fist. Before he could do any more, the other three were blocking his way with their arms while giving the Neolian a dirty look.

"Just one punch, one punch to that son of a bitch's mouth!" Howey said with a flare of anger.

"Hey! Hey! Come on bro!" Jonsey yelled as he held him back from charging into the small blonde kid. The blonde kid wasn't even that big, and that made even Jonsey want to run up and give him a good lesson despite how lanky Jonsey was.

"Let's not forget that promise!" Todd said as he held his arm.

"Kamil, stop it!" The brunette said as he got up and put a hand on his shoulder. The blonde shoved it off before yelling out:

"C'mon you pussy!"

"Hey! Shut up before _I _come over there and knock some sense into you!" Ash said with a snarl. Before the blonde could do anything else, the blue haired boy stopped him.

"Not here, not now. You really are dumb aren't you?" the blonde grit his teeth against his fellow comrade.

"These guys are Aeonians! The ones who killed a bunch of our friends! I can't just sit here and do nothing!"

"Hey! You guys are the ones who sent mavericks in so that your hands wouldn't get dirty with killing _our _friends too!" Howey burst out while he was still struggling to escape from the grasp of the Aeonian soldiers.

"All of you, stop this at once." The village chief shook his head as he approached the two groups.

"I don't know what happened between you all, or what your little quarrel is about. What matters is what's happening now, and now is not the time to fight." The old man said as he went near the blonde kid's feet. He bent his body so that he could reach his hand where the blonde once stepped. He picked up a squished vegetable that fell out of one of their baskets.

"Look at this… you ruined another good potato," the elder said before handing it to the blonde kid before leaving.

"It wasn't us who started this whole damn war in the first place!" The so called Kamil threw the ruined potato at the ground sourly.

"Hey, the detonations happened at the same time at those two cities, don't deny it!" Jonsey said to him.

"Why I outta-!"

"Stop!" the captain put his hand on the blonde person's shoulder.

"The only thing that fighting is bringing is more ruined food. Come on, let's settle this later," the captain said while glaring at the Aeonians. The four gritted their teeth and looked on with a burning hatred for the group of Neolians as they went off to do their work.

"Sup with them?" Howey asked, shaking his head as he went back to work. The next moments were spent in a silent rage, filled with anticipation on the next move. In the background, an old lady was smiling as her face was put into wrinkles.

"Such nice young boys."

#####

Kurois was dragged to a lot of places with the little kids, and even though he had his broken ankle, he still kept going just for a moment of silence when he walked. This time, a little boy held his hand and walked. He had the same silver hair and golden eyes as the rest of the villagers, and he seemed to have been around eight.

"Hey mister, wanna see something cool?" The little boy tugged at Kurois's hand. The teen looks down and gives the kid a look.

"Don't we have to go back soon? It's getting a little close to dinner." The kid frowned and looked down in defeat.

"Oh phooey." The kid kicked a bunch of dirt also, making his little point. Kurois turned around and tugged the little kid with him.

"Come on, let's go," Kurois said as he used his crutch to pivot around. They both walked for two seconds before they heard a buzzing sound. The little kid was the first person to turn around, and he screamed while ditching Kurois. The teen turned around to get a glimpse of the sound of the buzzing. He let out a shout before hopping as fast as he could to get out of there. When the little boy kicked the dirt, he must've kicked some pebbles to a bee hive, angering the bees and making them swarm.

Kurois limped as fast as he could, but let out a scream that made all of the workers look his way.

#####

The village and the gang returned to the village with most of them without a bee sting. Those who got bee stings were treated by the ladies in the village, who came outside and set up tables and chairs for them to sit on.

"Jesus, what happened?" Jonsey asked Kurois, who was sitting down on a metal chair outside with a grumpy look on his face, along with a couple of bumps from the bees that stung him. The bees eventually got him, and some even went out to the workers to show that they were a little angry. The little kid scratched the back of his head, a little embarrassed of what he did.

"He kicked some dirt and alerted a horde of angry bees, that's what happened," Kurois grumbled. The kids behind him giggled, despite Kurois's show of annoyance.

"Those bees were huge!" Jonsey said, tending to a sting from a bee after they attacked Kurois. Ash Ketchum lowly muttered under his breath,

"I've seen _way _bigger ones…"

"Great, now look what you've gone and done!" Everybody turned to Kamil, who was fuming since he was covered in a lot of bee stings. Kurois just huffed.

"Just be glad you didn't take the whole hive at once." Kamil completely ignored him, and pointed a finger straight at the little kid that caused all of the trouble. The little kid cowered and sank into his seat, looking away with shame.

"As if staying in the wilderness sucked itself! Jeez, look at what you did to me you pun-" Kamil didn't finish because Ash quickly got up and gave the blonde kid a good punch across the face. The blonde kid stumbled and fell back onto his chair, which fell also. Being as dense and hardheaded as he was, Ash started yelling himself.

"Stop blaming him! It's not like he purposely got the hive to attack the villagers!" Kamil quickly got back up and returned the punch. At this time, the pent up anger was let out between the two of the most hardheaded of each group.

"You bastard, I'll kill you!" Kamil sent another punch, aimed for Ash's face, but Ash was better trained. He took his hand and flipped him over and put him on the ground, putting each knee on each side of Kamil and pinning him down. With one hand, he held his neck, and with the other, he reared his fist, but stopped at the voice that came from the side.

"Why are you two hitting each other?" Both of the soldiers looked up and to the side and see that one girl. She was holding a basket filled with food, and she had a worried look while she tilted her head to the side. The two blinked, and they couldn't find an answer to give to her.

"You two should stop fighting, it's dinner time!" The girl smiled innocently and spontaneously. Ash looked down at his opponent, and then slowly got off him. Kamil threw the teen off and brushed his shoulders. They gave each other a look filled with anger, but they separated and went their own ways back to their fellow soldiers to eat another meatless meal.

#####

_I couldn't believe it. I panted and hyperventilated in disbelief at what I had to do next. My shaking hands grasped the object, and I let out a scream after I realized that I pressed the one button that-_

The blue haired boy woke up in frenzy, breathing in and out as if he just ran a marathon. His red eyes darted right to left, only to find the safe walls in the small building he slept in.

But that still didn't make his problem any better. He closed his eyes, put a hand to them, and let out a sigh. He sat up while using both hands to move them in a washing motion, as if to wash away something that burdened him. Once he opened his eyes again, he saw Kamil sitting next to a window. The blonde haired Neolian was looking towards the other building where the Aeonian soldiers slept with a glare in his eyes. His fists were clenched, showing no sign of letting his guard down.

"You're still awake?" Red eyes muttered. Kamil scoffed, not looking towards his direction.

"As if I would sleep when the enemies are a couple of yards away." The boy with blue hair huffed, lying back down. The kid was unbelievably ignorant.

"You know, that Kurois guy could've silently killed all four of us in our sleep. After all, he IS in the Raptor stealth youth division." With that, the boy fell asleep. Kamil then nodded.

"Yeah, and… wait… then, why didn't he?" Kamil asked the boy, but the boy was already asleep. With that thought, Kamil sat there blinking.

"Kamil, go to sleep. You're waking me up and we have a lot of work to do tomorrow…" The brown haired kid complained and tossed in his bed, which made Kamil silently walk over to his bed and lay there for a couple of minutes before going to sleep.

#####

"_Vi? Vi! Come on, don't leave me here! I love you too Violet! Vi!"_

I woke up… again. The same dream, over and over and over. It never goes away. I sat up, finding that I've clutched her purples gloves really tight. I let go and hold them gently, looking down at them while I let out a tired sigh. I held them to my chest, and then put my right hand to rub my forehead. If only… I looked over to my right, and sure enough, I found Ash sleeping, facing me. The kid had a goofy smile on his face, and he muttered something about someone named Latias, I don't know. It was pretty interesting, that Latias person was one of the people I read of in the Cross report.

According to the red head's report, Ash was from a different world, which was weird since I never thought that dimension travel was even possible. His world sounded like it was pretty good till they showed up. Well, at least they fixed everything before they left. Are we really that desperate? Are we really looking towards other worlds for help?

Pushing that thought aside, I thought it sounded really good at the time to live in a world filled with a lot of those pokemon things. I would actually love to go there after the war's over.

I scoffed at my wishful thinking. I lay back down while grasping her gloves, and I let out a yawn. I know that despite the possibility, it wasn't very likely that I would be able to go. It was dangerous, expensive, and the fact that the war wasn't going to end soon still lingered in my mind. I closed my eyes, glad to know that my nightmares never came back a second time a night. I better get as much rest as I can, who knows what those little kids will do tomorrow?

#####

It's been a couple of days now, and the same thing happened with the exception of the fighting. Ash and Kamil seemed to have cooled off, but they still seemed to be on uneasy terms. They were all working in the fields again with the sky as blue as ever.

"Hey look! Another one!" That one girl exclaimed while plucking a dandelion from the ground. She was sitting on top of the hill along with the little boy that dragged Kurois from yesterday. The teen was sitting next to the two, and they all looked at the villagers work. Darkblur was making sure that none of the soldiers tried anything funny, but his focus was distracted from the dandelion seeds that flew into his face.

"You know, those only grow weeds," Kurois noted. The girl and the boy ignored him, getting up quickly and bringing Kurois up along with them. The teen soldier sighed and let himself be dragged to another place. He was getting dragged back into the forest, hopefully they won't have any trouble this time…

"About the thing I wanted to show you yesterday! It's a huge sleeping bird!" The little boy exclaimed. Kurois gave him a quizzical look.

"A sleeping bird?"

"Well, that's what she calls it anyway," the little boy said. The girl was skipping ahead of them with her white dress standing out in the middle of the forest. Soon enough, they reached what she thought was a sleeping bird. She was totally wrong. Kurois gasped at the sight of a transport cargo plane, most likely a military one. The sun shining down on it showed that it was buried under growing vegetation, and its wings were damaged, showing how it plummeted to where it was now. Behind the plane was a path that the plane had while skidding across the forest. Its dark blue color now faded into its original steel color, which was also fading.

"When did you two find this?" Kurois asked while going ahead to put his hand on the cold ceratanium.

"I dunno, a long time ago! We didn't want to disturb it since it was sleeping!" The girl whispered. Kurois frowned with the flowing amount of questions. How did it crash? Where are the crew? All of these questions stopped echoing in his head when he turned around at a sudden sound and widened his eyes.

#####

"Whew…" Kamil wiped his hands on the shirt, huffing at his job well done.

"Man, when's the food storage gonna fill up?" Kamil asked while cracking his back.

"Not anytime soon," Ash commented to him as he passed by to drop off a full basket.

"I wasn't asking you," Kamil dryly replied. Ash just shrugged. Ash was actually surprised at his own behavior, it seemed like he grew a lot of self control over the time he's been here.

"Just saying, jeez. It's not like we're fighting over who started the stupid war in the first place." Kamil snorted,

"Everybody knows that answer. Of course it was the Aeonians who advanced north. We pushed them back as they advanced." Ash frowned and turned to face him.

"No, I'm pretty sure that you guys were the first to invade southwards." Kamil glared at him,

"Are you trying to pick a fight here?"

"Kamil, that's enough." The captain said while turning in a filled basket. The blonde haired kid stuck his index finger towards Ash and exclaimed,

"This guy just keeps on lying! Tell them that the Aeonians were the first ones to invade the north!" The capped man turned to Kamil, and huffed.

"We were the first to invade south Kamil. Get back to work." Kamil's finger dropped, and so did his face.

"See? Told ya, you jerk," Ash said while crossing his arms. Kamil guiltily scratched the back of his head.

"Well, I only went south because they told me to." Ash felt kind of bad, and he let it go without another word. Kamil watched Ash leave and start working again, but he himself couldn't find the motivation to work right now. He was just tired. He looked to one of the hills when a breeze came, and he stared as that one girl ran over the hill towards the villagers. She had a beautiful smile on her face, and he felt himself smile also as she ran.

But his face suddenly dropped when he saw the little boy and Kurois, running/hopping in panic away from something hidden behind the hills. From that moment, everything seemed to go in slow motion. The other soldiers looked towards Kurois's way, hearing his screams as he attempted to hop himself away from something. What they saw next revealed what the soldier was running from.

It was a massive, brown, massive, angry, massive, charging, did I mention massive? Boar. And guess what? It was fucking massive.

Every villager in that area scattered, screaming as the boar came plowing through their work area. Without thinking, Ash acted first. He picked up whatever he could find, a potato, and made a beeline for the animal. As the boar was galloping towards the group, Ash ran in front of it, throwing the potato at the boar. His pokeball throwing skills seemed to help because the potato hit the boar straight in the eye. The animal skidded to a halt, letting out a low squeal before spotting the thrower. Ash gulped, and started running as the boar charged him.

Ash let out a shriek as he made a break for it, but he was suddenly tackled to the side, out of harms reach. The person that tackled him was the blue haired boy, scattering his vegetables while he grabbed Ash with one arm and used the other to soften the impact when they hit the ground. The boar charged past them, and was a little angry at the evasion. He then targeted the blue haired boy, who also made a break for it.

The red eyed boy was really fast, but he was no match for the boar that was gaining on him. He did a quick turn, but the boar followed him also. The boy let out a scared scream, seeing the boar gaining on him every second. Kamil was the second one to act, he ran to the forest, picked up a branch, and ran back to hit the boar as it charge by. Kamil was thrown to the side to the ground from his baseball swing, hitting the boar but not breaking the branch.

The boar stumbled and tripped, but it quickly got back up to charge the blonde haired boy, who ran for it in the fields. Sure, they were plowing up a lot of crops, but that didn't seem to matter at the moment. The captain yelled out to the other soldiers, holding a long rope in his hand from one of the backpack baskets that they had to wear. The soldiers nodded, both Aeonian and Neolian, and split up. They stretched the rope as long as it could go, and then dropped it into the grass so that it wasn't visible.

The people who were holding the rope looked at each other, and for some weird reason, Jonsey was paired up with the brown haired and the captain kid while Todd and Howey were paired with the blue haired kid. They all gave each other a quizzical look before they heard Kamil's scream. Kamil was screaming like a little girl, running towards the rope that they set up. Behind the rope was a hill. It wasn't steep, but if the plan worked, the boar would tumble all the way down.

Kamil closed his eyes and pumped his arms harder, trying not to look back at the boar that was an inch away from ramming him. He ran past the rope, and then ran to the side. The boar tried to follow, but the soldiers tugged on the rope and watched the boar fall, tumbling down the hill on its side. They looked down, but the boar was still moving at the bottom! That's when the capped man let go of the rope and ran down the hill as fast as he could. He looked for a weapon as he was running down, but Kurois was already on it by tossing his crutch to the captain, who took it and took one mighty swing as he was running down, and brought it down on the boar's head.

The boar let out a squeal, but it was still moving after that blow. The captain fell to the side, and looked up the hill to see Ash Ketchum running down with the branch that Kamil used. The kid let out a war cry before taking the stick and raising it above his head. The sharp end of the branch stabbed into the side of the boar, making it shriek one last time before falling limp.

"Get the rope! Get the rope!" The captain commanded, and all of the soldiers came running down with the rope.

"Tie the legs! Don't let it get up again!" Kurois said also, taking a part of the rope. In the end, the soldiers tied the rope around the legs of the beast, lifting it so that it lay on its back. They all let out a shout of triumph along with the villagers who were watching. Todd and Howey fist bumped Kamil while Jonsey patted the brown haired guy on the shoulder. The capped man patted Kurois's back, who couldn't help but let out a sigh and a laugh along with a smile. Ash was still dazed, and was helped up by the blue haired boy.

"Uhh… thanks," Ash said before the blue haired boy nodded without a single facial expression. The villagers crowded around and lifted up the boar, bringing it back to the village after cleaning up and carrying their day's worth of food along with it!

#####

*Chirp Chirp. Chirp Chirp*

That was the only thing Kamil heard in the night as he lay in bed. His stomach growled for the twentieth time that night, and he couldn't take it any more. He sat up in his bed,

"Guys?" He asked. Three other people sat up along with him, and they each gave each other a look before they decided what to do next.

A moment later, four sets of shoes hit the grass as the soldiers walked through the forest. It was almost pitch black, with the moon being their only source of light. The crickets stopped chirping, and that seemed a little eerie. It didn't matter because the crickets weren't the reason why they were there.

"Captain, I don't get why they buried the thing! It looked so good! What's wrong with this village? They don't eat meat or anything!" The four turned a corner on the path that they were walking on, heading towards the burial place of the boar. The place was right behind a small boulder, marking where the boar was lying.

"If we were back at the base, I would be the one who would-" The four soldiers stopped at what they were seeing. Their sight included a small fire, a dug up boar, and four men crowded around it while staring hungrily back at the Neolians in the middle of their eating. Ash had a piece of meat hanging from his mouth, Jonsey had a small kitchen knife in his hands, Todd held one piece of meat in each hand, and Howey was chewing on a piece.

The blue haired boy turned around to leave, but Kamil's hand held his shoulder and kept him there, giving him a look before looking back at the fire and food. They both knew that he wanted a piece of that boar.

A moment later, eight soldiers were sitting around a slightly larger fire. The four Aeonians sat on one end while the Neolians sat on the other, creating this awkward tension. No one ate at the moment, but Howey soon broke the silence before handing the brown haired kid a big piece of meat.

"Here, have some." The brown boy gulped, a little suspicious when he took it, but he didn't even care once he held it in his hands. He buried his face in it, taking a big bite and smiling towards the smiling pilot at the goodness that he was chewing. He stopped guiltily, and then ripped a piece to hand to each of the soldiers. Even the blue haired boy ate it hungrily, knowing that this was their first meat meal for days.

Jonsey gave off a little chuckle, cutting up more pieces knowing that there were going to be more to serve. They ate for a couple seconds before they heard another sound, the sound of feet stepping through the grass. It was a little off tempo from what they heard, and it sounded like the person was limping. Sure enough, at the same place where the Neolians once stood, they saw who they expected.

A moment later, four Aeonians and four Neolians sat on one side of the fire, creating a small semi circle on one side, and leaving Kurois on the other. The teen sat there, not trying to look hungry but failing terribly at it. The brown haired kid took a piece and handed it over the fire towards the elite soldier. Kurois first looked at the Aeonians, specifically Ash to see if they were eating safely. His eyes were met with Ash, who paused in the middle of his eating, looking like a squirrel with the meat in his cheeks.

The teen sighed, and then took the piece and ripped off a small sliver before taking a bite. He savored it, and nodded in acknowledgement in the great taste that the meat brought. At that, the captain started to chuckle, and then Jonsey, and then the rest of them. The chuckles of the entire group turned into laughter, and even Kurois was smirking and laughing along.

"Here! Have some more sir," The brown haired kid said while handing some meat over.

"Man! This is so good!" Ash exclaimed as he ate more and more.

"Hey, hey, Ketchup, don't hog all of the meat, we still need to make everybody gets some!" Jonsey said as he cut more meat off with his knife and put it over the fire.

Another moment later, rain started to fall down on the village hut/buildings. It first came in a small drizzle, and then in a pouring rain. The soldiers all laughed as they ran back to their own separate buildings, with Kamil playfully punching Ash in the shoulder before the group of soldiers separated. The blue haired boy came up short, walking calmly into the building. Behind him was Kurois, who was getting drenched while he waddled into the building to grab some sleep.

All nine of them went to bed peacefully that night, and for once, they eagerly waited for what the next day had in store for them.


	15. The Calm Before the Storm

Hey everybody, sorry for the delay. Before I start, I want to say something. Actually, I want to apologize.

Writing is tough, and a lot of the times I just don't want to do it. It becomes somewhat like a chore, and it becomes hard to enjoy writing and it gets hard to get it done efficiently and rapidly. Sorry for the delays, but please, don't give up on me cause I won't give up on myself to write for those who still read.

What happened is that I gave myself a three week window for a break, but then I ended up forgetting about studying for AP testing (It sucks major ass). That's sort of why it took so long. Well, in between AP test studying and the 3 weeks, I wrote a lot, and ended up being VERY motivated to write. AP testing kinda ruined it from there.

Enough talking, you're not really interested in that. Here's the next chapter!

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Calm Before the Storm

#####

"Haha! Damn, I never thought that Captain Durant would look so much like my uncle!" Kamil exclaimed. All of the soldiers laughed as they walked towards the fields with their food gathering equipment on their backs. It was the following morning, and since it rained a lot last night, their clothes were left up to dry for the day. All of the soldiers were in civilian clothes, and the captain was wearing a standard T-shirt, sweater, and jeans look.

"Hey, I was a civilian once too Kamil. You should take a good look at yourself; you look like my friend's son!" Kamil was dressed in baggy clothing, mostly made up of a big white sweater, a pair of jeans, and a black t-shirt underneath.

"Not looking back Ketchup, you look like one of those cartoon characters that my little brother used to watch," Jonsey said as he adjusted his dark blue windbreaker. Ash chuckled, he was wearing something similar to what he was wearing before he came to this world. He also borrowed the Neolian captain's cap, which was a dark blue.

"Is that supposed to be a good thing? Or a bad thing?" The soldiers laughed as they walked together, getting along fairly easily. They all stopped laughing when the red dressed girl giggled and skipped in front of them, turning around once to give one quick wink to Kamil. The boy blushed, noticing the flower that was sticking out of her hair. It was apparently the same flower that was found in his ear in the first morning that they were there. She giggled,

"Come on! You guys are so slow!" She happily skipped along, skipping past the group. Todd elbowed Kamil, who turned to him to see Todd raising his eyebrows and letting them relax twice. Kamil gave him a playful shove, and everybody laughed some more.

Darkblur lagged behind, limping a little from the lack of a crutch. He was wearing his rectangular glasses, and he adjusted them every couple of limps. Along with his purple gloves, he wore a black T shirt with a green hexagon in the middle of his chest. His pants were also black, carrying the same neon green hexagon on his knees, and his boots were replaced with a pair of sneakers.

"Come on mister! This time, I'll give you a better look at what I was trying to show you yesterday!" The soldier nervously chuckled from the little boy's remark as he fell behind to talk to him.

"I think I'll pass…"

"Oh come on! It can't be _that _bad! It's really cool too!" Darkblur sighed,

"Alright fine. Show me the way buddy."

Since the two didn't have any physical work to do, they fell back a little to take a little detour into the deepness of the forest. Darkblur stayed on edge for any more boars, this time ready with a wood cutting axe hanging from his pants. The morning was really hot and humid, and the fog left over from the rain made the rays coming through the opening of the foliage look celestial and peaceful. Darkblur took in a breath before sneezing, a little ticked off at how his allergy medication was back at base.

"Hey kid, I've seen your mom around, but has your dad been around lately?" Darkblur asked this to get the allergies off of his mind. In a second, he regretted that he asked that question.

"Um… Well… You see, my dad left the village because he wanted to see the outside world. He hasn't come back for quite a while now," The kid looked down as they walked.

"Oh… sorry I asked," Kurois guiltily replied.

"Nah, it's okay. Someday, I want to go out and see what it's like myself!" The kid exclaimed, pointing a thumb at himself.

"Just like my dad!" Kurois chuckled instead of sighing and shaking his head like he wanted to.

'_No kid. You don't.'_

"Here it is Mister!" The boy pointed. Darkblur gulped and took a couple of steps forward, putting a hand on the fuselage. He found the electronic door on the side of the cargo plane, and felt around until he found the emergency handle. He twisted the faded red, vertical handle horizontally according to the picture and pulled. To his surprise, the entire door just fell right off, and Kurois was standing there in surprise with the heavy metal door in his hand.

"Shhh! Mister! You're gonna wake up the sleeping bird!" Kurois disregarded that comment as he threw the door to the side and stepped in. He coughed from the dust, and he blinked twice and adjusted his glasses before he looked around. Darkblur seriously stared at the large containers. They were containers that kept contents from natural contact, preserving it for God knows how long. Most boxes were dated from Two thousand three hundred and five AD, but some were dated back to two thousand and eleven. Some of the stuff here was two centuries old! The little boy's jaw dropped as he looked around. He picked up a strange object, which he showed to Darkblur.

"Mister, what is this?"

"That's a solar powered digital camera, here. Let's not disturb the sleeping bird anymore, let's head back okay?"

"Aw, but I wanted to see more…" The little boy didn't argue and left with the camera. Kurois followed, but he stopped right at the entrance and looked back. It was no mistake, these containers are…

#####

Birds chirped as they flew over the fields in which the villagers were sitting around. It was lunch time, and the wind gave everybody a nice breeze to cool themselves down with. Like always, the food was made up of all vegetables. The soldiers, however, all had their own secret amount of boar jerky, made by Howey who smoked them last night.

"Dude, with all of this harvest, and with none of the boars here, we might as well build another food storage!" Ash exclaimed, proud of his work. Behind him was all of his picked crops, and his pile seemed bigger than the others.

"Maybe, and then we might have done something decent in this whole damn war," Todd said as he chewed on a piece of boar jerky. The only soldier that wasn't sitting amongst them was the blue haired red eyed boy. He held his knees and looked down, sitting with his food untouched.

'_Those people… so carefree.'_

"Something wrong dude?" The blue haired boy turned his head to see Jonsey, who was standing with his back sack filled with food. After a period of silence, he took a seat next to the blue haired boy.

"What's going on? Not feeling good?" Jonsey asked. The blue haired boy scoffed,

"It's none of your business." Jonsey was the one to scoff this time.

"Well, thanks for saving my buddy Ash back there, I would've been in deep shit if you didn't do anything."

"…" The blue haired boy stared onward, carrying a blank expression.

"You don't talk much do you?" Jonsey asked as he sighed and leaned back.

"The name's Jonsey. I never got your name." The blue haired boy let out a sigh.

"Matthew." Jonsey nodded,

"Nice name." After a period of silence, the blue haired boy asked Jonsey a question:

"Hey, why we were sleeping, why didn't you just kill us and leave?" Matthew asked Jonsey. The Aeonian was a little offended,

"I don't do that stuff. I'm surprised that you didn't kill any of us either. You sort of seem like the type." Matthew seemed kind of hurt too.

"Is that so?" Jonsey immediately waved his hands,

"Oh, no! I didn't mean it like that dude, honest!" Matthew just scoffed, getting up to put away his uneaten food. Jonsey scratched the back of his head,

"Man, what's wrong with that guy?"

#####

"The last transmission of Captain Durant was in this sector. We can assume that his group is over there. A strong electromagnetic field is blocking out communication lines, which most likely means that Aeonians are setting up ECMs and are preparing for their next attack. We need to attack now, and hopefully get Durant in the process." Men in dark blue uniforms were standing around a holo-projector, pointing at the terrains on the land.

"Sir, this is nothing but an assumption. We can't just barge into Rosetta territory, that area hasn't been touched for decades, if not for a whole century! We need to send an organized scouting group, not a search and destroy team."

"Send in the Mavericks!"

"The Mavericks' learning computers aren't going to be functioning as well in places with ECM; a grunt would have a better survival rate than a Maverick in an ECM area."

"Enough." A single man with a beret said over the projection to the rest of the men.

"We have no time. Aeonians are counter attacking in a rapid rate. We can't just sit around and watch our territories get taken over by those fiends. Sacrifices must be made, and Rosetta is no exception. We have no time to be sympathetic." The men around the table uncomfortably shifted, looking at the holo-projecter once more.

#####

The next couple of days were spent with the enjoyment of a life away from technology and war. As the days progressed, it got colder, and some of the leaves turned an orange and yellow tint. Todd taught everybody how to play football, even Darkblur, who was surprisingly clumsy in sports. A day after that, Captain Durant won in a wood breaking contest, and on the same day, the one strange girl in red won in races, despite the fact that she went up against war trained soldiers. Today, they got to skid down a steep hill while using mats made out of dead vegetation.

Everybody was letting out screams of joy as they went down; it was pretty much the equivalent of sledding without the snow.

"I'm going to beat you Ben (The brown haired boy)!" Ash exclaimed as he was one of the first ones down.

"Not a chance spiky!" Ben said as they both raced down with extreme speed. Kurois was chuckling at the bottom, taking pictures with the camera that he had. In the past few days, the little kids seemed to have drawn closer to Kurois, mainly because he was the least busy of all of the villagers.

"Hey Matthew! Come join us!" Kamil yelled as he went down, but pouted when he saw the blue haired boy turn away while they were going down.

"What a buzzkill!"

"I'm beating you Kamil!" The one girl yelled in excitement as she went ahead. Kamil blushed, but then stammered back,

"N-no you're not!" Captain Durant was standing at the top of the hill, looking over everybody with the village chief. The day was beautiful, and everybody was having a great time.

"I don't get it. All of the villagers listen to you so well and you don't even have to raise your voice. What's your secret?" The captain asked the chief. The village chief hummed before he spoke while smiling.

"Just feed them a lot." Captain Durant blinked before he turned his head towards the chief.

"Sir?"

"I won! Yeah!" Ash laughed as he jumped up from the excitement. Ben huffed,

"I call a rematch!" Once Todd and Howey went down, Todd swore and secretly passed Howey a piece of Boar Jerky.

"Dammit, that was the last piece of jerky too." Howey laughed triumphantly as he took a bite,

"You might be smart dude, but I've probably spent more time gambling than you have."

Matthew held his knees again, watching from a different hill he was a bit silent until a kid accidentally threw the makeshift football at his head. The soldier slowly turned his head, seeing the little kid that was usually with Darkblur. The kid laughed,

"Sir! You should try grass sledding! It's really fun!" Another kid ran to him with a mat, smiling as he handed the soldier the mat. The blue haired boy blinked and slowly turned his head back to the mat.

#####

"WHOOOOO! YEAH!" Matthew was yelling aloud since no one else was really around since they were doing something else. He was holding on the mat while sitting down, leaning forward as his eyes watered from the air that was flowing onto his face. On the way down, he accidentally fell off and tumbled down. He laughed as he lay on his back on the soft grass, looking up at the partly cloudy sky with a grin. He laughed,

"Maybe this isn't so bad after all," His thoughts were cut short however, and he stopped smiling when he saw a large gray cloud block the blue. He watched as villagers walked around him to get back to the village. Despite some of the happy talk, Matthew's breath shortened and he widened his eyes as he looked left and right at the villagers passing by, remembering _that _time…

#####

"_I can't do it… not now!" I hyperventilated as I looked at the townspeople crossing the bridge. I shook my head in disbelief and pressed the comms device to my ear to make sure I wasn't misinterpreting what I just heard._

"_Y-you can't make that decision that easily sir!"_

"What are you talking about? You know what must be done!"

"_The bridge is full of fucking refugees!"_

"Shut up and take the bridge down!"

"_No! I refuse! No! You bastard, you want me to kill all of these people? I-I CAN'T! Do you have any idea how big that bridge is?" I looked at the bridge, the refugees didn't know what was going on, and I swore I saw a little boy wandering around calling for his mother. Once I heard a baby cry, I grasped the detonator in my free hand, grasping it so tight that my knuckles turned white. Most of the refugees were women and children with their brothers, sons, and fathers off to war._

"You are disobeying a direct order Sergeant! Do it, or else I will have you executed!"

"_How!... How, how am I supposed to kill all of those… all of those people? I can't! I can't kill all of them!"_

"You know what will happen if Aeonian vehicles get over that river! It'll be the end of us you son of a bitch! Take the bridge down!"

"_**I CAN'T!**__"_

"This is a direct order dammit! BLOW THE FUCKING BRIDGE!"

"_I… I can't… the people… th-the kids…"_

_What happened next seemed to betray my thoughts. My morals. My beliefs. My body betrayed me, and I took the detonator and I-_

#####

"Mister? You fell behind." Matthew was laying there, eyes glued to the gray sky, dripping in sweat. Matthew didn't even look away from where he was once looking, and the silver hair from the gold eyed girl touched some of Matthew's face. After a couple of seconds, she left, shrugging and skipping towards the village. What she missed was the sight of Matthew putting his hands to his face and letting out a silent, miserable cry to the now drizzling sky.

#####

A Neolian officer stood in front of a group of soldiers, all airborne cadets. The officer huffed and let a trail of his breath sink into the cold, morning air as he stood in the hanger.

"Good morning. In exactly seven days, your mission will be to go in, find Captain Durant and get out as soon as possible. You have been training to be the best of the best at search and rescue, which is why we chose you to participate in the mission next week. This week of preparation will simulate the exact terrain, resistance, and weather conditions of Rosetta territory.

"The reason why we are training you is because of the fact that in exactly twenty four hours after the start of your mission, a search and destroy team will be sent in to obliterate anything that exists in that area, whether it be civilian or not. Along with the search and destroy team, the tech division's 'Type 25' is going to be put into test."

"Also, be advised that a deserter named Matthew Thorn might have sided with Aeonian forces. If possible, eliminate him. Your main objective, however, is to find the Captain and make it back alive as soon as possible. Cadets, this will be your first real mission. However, as Neolian Airborne Units, I expect nothing but the best. Come back safely, and get Captain Durant home. For Neolia!"

"Attention! Salute!" The soldiers of the airborne unit all saluted the officer, all of them ready to train for the next mission to come.

#####

It rained. To be more exact, it poured. The weather in Rosetta village was unpredictable, it was perfectly cloudless one hour, and the next hour, it poured buckets. Kurois was sleeping from the exhaustion from playing with the kids, Ash was taking a small nap, and the rest were gathered under the roof as they sat down on the patio and inside of the building that the Neolians slept in.

"Man… if it weren't for this war, I would probably be in Neo York, a singing star with a girl in each arm…" Ben said as he ran a hand through his brown hair. He and Todd were lying down on a mat with their stomachs against the ground.

"Heh, you remind me of my nephew. The kid doesn't know a damn thing," Todd scoffed. Ben lay on his side to get a good look at Todd.

"You have a nephew? Man, you're older than you look!" Todd growled,

"Oh yeah? Well you look ridiculously young for your age." Todd looked out into the rain with the rest of the soldiers sitting inside, looking out the window.

"Aw, come on! Don't be so sour, uncle!" The two bickered on and on as if they were family members, and eventually, Howey ended up getting in the conversation as well.

"You sort of look like a younger bro to me," Howey said as he leaned against the door frame, letting out a sigh.

"Finally, someone who has a little more common sense! I'm gonna call you big bro from now on, and I'm going to call you," Ben pointed towards Todd, "Uncle." Howey chuckled,

"Yeah, Todd's always been like an uncle."

"Howey, I don't have a damn clue if that's a good thing or a bad thing."

Matthew and Captain Durant were both sitting inside at the same table, watching the rain hit the window and hit the ground outside. Captain Durant held a dark blue badge, the badge of a high ranking soldier of the Neolian army.

"Do you want to know how I got this badge?" Captain Durant asked Matthew. Neither of them looked at each other, but Matthew surprisingly replied,

"How?" Captain Durant let out a sigh and dropped the badge onto the table before leaning forward and interlocking his fingers together as he put his elbows on the table. His head dipped forward so that it rested upon his fingers, and he looked down at the badge that was gleaming through the small electric light bulb that illuminated the room.

"When I was a grunt, my platoon was sent out to eliminate Aeonian resistance near the Dead Plains. We thought it was going to be a simple sweep, but instead, we met 'The Demon.' He wiped out my whole platoon, and I was the only one who survived. The only reason I survived was because I ran. I ran and came back. They awarded me a medal, and the rank of a commanding officer. How fucked up is that?" Matthew turned his head away from the window to see the captain, his red eyes glinting like a small fire.

"They accepted me as a hero when in reality, I was a coward. I requested and eventually was sent to Turtle Prison. There, I met the bravest men, women, and children of Aeonia. There, I learned what true courage was. Especially from a girl named Mari. She was the kindest out of them all, and the most uplifting for both me and her fellow prisoners. When I found out that her file contained data regarding her family ties to 'The Demon,' I didn't know what to do. Call me crazy, but I deleted that file, and any having connections with her and 'The Demon.' I did all I could for that girl, and for the prisoners there. Then we got attacked, and everything just went batshit crazy. I really hope that she's alright," Captain Durant sighed. Matthew sighed also.

"That takes a lot of guts. It's admirable that you saved some of your soldiers from the attack too, it was a vicious counter attack from the Aeonians." Matthew looked down as he turned his body towards the captain.

"I'm guessing that you want to know why I almost shot myself back in the forest." Captain Durant didn't say a word. "I was stationed at one of the cities that were being attacked. The Neolians weren't evacuated fast enough, and I ended up being one of the last to leave. While refugees were crossing the bridge from one of the cities that were being attacked, I was ordered to blow the bridge to make sure that Aeonian tanks and Mechs couldn't pass on through. I… followed the order, and killed a bridge full of civilians. Heh. Some good that did. The Aeonians are far enough, they probably have found a different route. It doesn't change a thing. I deserted and I ran as far as I could. I knew what was gonna happen to me if I went back, so I decided to end all of it back there." Matthew let out a sigh.

"I'm glad I came in time," Captain Durant told Matthew. The blue haired boy didn't say a word after that, and the two resumed what they were doing before, staring out into the rain.

Jonsey and Kamil were sitting near the edge of the building, with the rain falling a couple of inches away from them.

"Yeah, I don't come from a rich family like you do dude. I grew up in a really poor family," Jonsey said as he cracked his knuckles. Kamil did the same, trying to make his louder, but failing.

"You know, I used to be one of those spoiled, stuck up kids. Ever since my dad enlisted me, I sort of got better and better. I learned that I wasn't all that after basic training. I guess Ketchup really helped too, he's a good guy," Kamil said honestly. Jonsey scoffed,

"I can definitely see that. And yeah, Ketchup is a one of a kind guy. I don't know what it is, but he has some sort of positive effect on everybody around him. Sometimes, I sort of feel like he leads our team instead of our sergeants. He's a born leader," Jonsey leaned back. Kamil did the same, watching the water leak small droplets through the gutter.

"He just has that aura, I guess," Kamil said. He opened his mouth to say more, but the two caught a glance of a teen girl, sitting down on a table set up in the middle of the village. Her hair was a silver color, that seemed to radiate amongst the gray, and her golden eyes gleamed with happiness as she sat down and opened her mouth to catch some of the rain. She closed her eyes, and smiled contently as she swung her legs back and forth.

Before Jonsey could say a word, Kamil got up and ran over to the girl. The girl didn't even notice him until he stood right next to her. The girl gave him a puzzled look, and then Kamil reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of cloth. The girl looked at the cloth and back to Kamil before Kamil took the girl's hand and placed the cloth into her hand. From Jonsey's perspective, she was still a little confused, so Kamil took the cloth and wiped the girl's face from the rain. Jonsey sniggered, it looked really cute to see the two. The girl then smiled, understanding, and then kissed Kamil on the cheek before skipping off.

Todd, Howey, Ben, and Jonsey stopped what they were doing and stared out into the rain in surprise. Kamil walked back, kind of dumbfounded as he sat back down. From the silence, he realized that everyone was giving Kamil a sly look.

"Sh-Shut up!" Kamil stuttered, but no one was talking at the moment, making him feel like a bigger idiot. A blush spread across his face and everybody laughed. After letting out all of their laughter, the five came together.

"Hey… What happens when the food storage gets full?" Kamil asked. Everybody sat uneasily; they all knew the answer to that question.

"I guess we'll have to go," Jonsey sighed.

"Hey, Ben, you have another grenade?" Todd joked. Ben chuckled,

"I wish…"

"If the Aeonians push all the way through, I guess that all of us Neolians won't have a place to go," Kamil said as he looked down. Howey coughed,

"If I ever do go home, it's back to the streets with me. The army fuckin feeds me better than I can ever provide for myself. If I go home, I'll probably gamble and drink my life away."

Todd nodded to that statement, clearing his throat to say, "I watched the helicopter minigun literally tear people into pieces. I killed soldiers even though they surrendered. How am I supposed to face my families and friends back home?" Todd added, spitting on the ground after clearing his throat. Jonsey huffed, getting everybody to turn towards him.

"My parents were killed in a Maverick raid, my uncle's a drunk, my grandparents are dead, and my cousin's a drug addict. My girlfriend also sent me a Dear John letter not too long ago. This war is all I have left."

The soldiers sat around, all of them realizing the consequence of leaving Rosetta. However, they also knew the consequence of staying too long. Who knows? Maybe some troops from either Aeonia or Neolia are heading towards them as they sit around.

#####

"_Latias?" Ash asked the red and white pokemon as she seemed to quiver in the white void. The dragon was facing away from him, and he got up and walked towards the pokemon, placing a hand on the Lati's neck. Like a steel, coiled spring, the Lati tensed up, and Ash could feel it under her soft down as he laid a hand on her. _

"_Is everything alright?" The Lati turned around, a look of fear plastered on her face. When she saw Ash, she immediately turned and clutched the boy with all of her might._

"_Ash!... I'm so scared…" Ash didn't know what to do at the moment; he only put his arms around her and held her close._

"_It's going to be alright, what's there to be scared about? You have your big brother to take care of you, you'll be fine," Ash said in a comforting voice as he separated herself from her to get a good look at her. She paused for a moment, and then her expression softened. Ash knew she felt better because of how her golden eyes seemed to shake less, and her mouth curved upwards in a slight smile. _

"_I… guess so…" Ash gave her a slight smile, cupping her face with one hand and slightly bringing her closer._

"_It's okay Latias, I'm right here." What Ash did next was lean in, kiss her on the cheek, and hug her again. Latias was rigid for a moment, and then she clenched the boy while small sniffles escaped her. Small tears fell down the sides of her face, and she whispered,_

"_If only…" _

_#####_

Ash opened his eyes to find himself staring at the white ceiling again, but it was a lot darker than usual. He sat up, realizing that he woke up in the middle of the night. He looked around, and saw everybody sleeping, except Kurois. He was switching shirts, and he managed to see through the dark at the boy's bare upper body. Since Ash was sleeping in the bed right next to his, he saw clearly what was all over his body.

The most noticeable mark was a semi circular scar. The points were pointing towards Ash, to Kurois's left. That was the one that stood out the most. Other smaller scars, obviously burns from plasma shots and recovered bullet holes, were the most present. Others, such as a scar from his left shoulder down across his back to his right hip was probably from a beam saber slashed across his back. A nasty dark splotch seemed to have spread along his left shoulder. This was probably from an un armored area that got hit from a plasma round. As he took off his gloves, multiple marks of gashes were strewn across his knuckles. You would think that the medical technology they had would get rid of those scars. They must've been very deep.

"It's the price you pay for not killing your enemies." Ash jumped, not realizing that he stared off. Kurois didn't even turn to him; he just kept on doing what he was doing.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stare," Ash whispered, trying not to wake up his sleeping friends. Kurois put his shirt on, a little peeved that someone caught him in that moment. The next minute was filled with awkward silence, and Ash couldn't stand it and asked him,

"What happened with the one on your hand?" Ash didn't have to point; Kurois knew exactly which one he was asking about. He tensed up, and Ash gulped from the tension, but he rested easy as Kurois let out a sigh. He turned his head, his golden eyes looking back at Ash. Ash blinked, those eyes were unusually sad compared to the cold ones he usually saw.

"Do you… really want to know?" Ash nodded. Kurois leaned back against the wall, putting a pillow underneath his back to support him.

"I guess you have the right to know." Ash did the same, turning to his side so he can see Kurois. The boy wiped his forehead before starting,

"It all started when…"

#####

"Hey! Lunch is finally here!" Ben exclaimed as he, Kamil, Ash, and Howey happiily ran over and grabbed the large baskets that the women of the village from them and brought them over to the rest of the workers for their meal. Kids also ran into the fields, playing and looking for their parents and family members. Kurois wiped the sweat from his brow with a hand that was wearing work gloves instead of the purple ones that he usually wore. His ankle was a little better, he could actually contribute, and the kid helped him out when he needed to.

Captain Durant smiled at this one particular woman, who was the kid's mother. The two have grown rather close, and he took the basket from her to help ease her of the weight of the food.

"These men are so strong! The food storage is already full!"

"It's good that these young 'uns have gotten along!"

"This isn't a good. Thing, they said that they were going to leave once the storage gets full!"

"Well, we don't have to tell them that the storage is full…" The teen girls from the village all gossiped while staring at Ash and Ben, the two boys that appealed the most to the small group of adolescent girls. Ben knew this, and he waved at them, making some girls smile and wave back. Ash was oblivious as ever, not noticing at all and happily eating food with his back turned to them.

"Thank you very much," Matthew said as he received a potato from a lady who was passing around food. The blue haired boy had a faint trace of a smile, but he didn't have a big facial expression. The lady, however, who handed him the potato, smiled and went on to the next person who needed food. Howey, Todd, and Kamil were both joking around, and Kurois was conversing with the kid and that one girl.

"Hey, the storage is almost full, and we're gonna have to leave soon," Jonsey said to the others while eating.

"Maybe we should find another grenade," Howey joked, making the others laugh, "A good toss, and we can make it for another month or so, huh?"

"Hey, your fault for working so hard," Todd replied, happily eating away at the food that was well deserved.

"I'm seriously saying that we should build a bigger storage building! Let's rebuild it!" Ash exclaimed.

"I wish," Kamil replied while snacking on a carrot.

"Hey Ben! Why don't you sing us a song?" Todd asked the boy while handing him corn to use as a microphone. The boy blushed as everybody looked at him, especially the teens.

"What? A song? Nah, I'll pass," Ben nervously answered. The villagers then erupted, trying to convince him to sing for them all.

"Come on y'all, you put him in the spotlight, and now he won't sing!" The village chief said as he ate.

"Well… Maybe just once," Ben chuckled as he took the corn. Everybody cheered, but then quieted down when he cleared his throat. Ben closed his eyes as if to find a song, but then found one he particularly liked when he heard it on one of the old CD players left in the village. He then stood up, making a small announcement,

"You know, you might or might not like this song, but here it goes…" Ben cleared his throat,

"**Somebody once told me the world is gone roll me**

**I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed."**

The villagers whooped, and they quieted down so that he could finish. Everybody was having fun, and even Matthew was fairly amused.

"**She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb **

**in the shape of on "L" on her forehead…"**

#####

"**Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming**

**Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running**

**Didn't make sense to live for fun**

**Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb**

**So much to do so much to see **

**So what's wrong with taking the back streets?**

**You'll never know if you don't go**

**You'll never shine if you don't glow."**

Fires and dim lightbulbs lit the night in the village of Rosetta, and people were dancing and laughing as they celebrated the filling of the storage room after the hard work that everybody partook in. The little kids were trying to play with Kurois, who was trying to tape Ben's little performance, Kamil and that one girl were sitting and having a small conversation, and the rest were either eating, drinking, or listening to Ben's song.

The villagers managed to find a drum set, with one of their villagers playing on it while Jonsey played an acoustic guitar that they found lying around in one of the buildings. Luckily, he's been able to find an amp and a guitar cord. He was plugged in, putting a little distortion on his guitar as he played with other villagers with various instruments.

"**Hey now, you're an All Star, get your game on, go play**

**Hey now, you're a Rock Star, get the show on get paid**

**And all that glitters is gold**

**Only shooting stars break the mold**

**It's a cool place and they say it gets colder**

**You're bundled up now but wait 'til you get older**

**But the meteor men beg to differ**

**Judging by the hole in the satellite picture**

**The ice we skate, is getting pretty thin**

**The water's getting warm so you might as well swim**

**My world's on fire, how about yours?**

**That's the way I like it and I'll never get bored."**

As Ben went to repeat the chorus twice, the soldiers were all hanging out, spending their time with the villagers for the last time before they set off. Ash was laughing with a handful of villagers, Captain Durant was sitting down with the village chief and having a drink, Todd and Howey were both talking with the village women, and Matthew was sitting a little away from the party, watching from a distance.

"**Somebody once asked could I spare some change for gas**

**I need to get myself away from this place**

**I said yep what a concept**

**I could use a little fuel myself**

**And we could all use a little change**

**Well, the years start coming and they don't stop coming**

**Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running**

**Didn't make sense not to live for fun**

**Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb**

**So much to do so much to see **

**So what's wrong with taking the back streets?**

**You'll never know if you don't go**

**You'll never shine if you don't glow**

**Hey now, you're an All Star, get your game on, go play**

**Hey now, you're a Rock Star, get the show on get paid**

**And all that glitters is gold**

**Only shooting stars break the mold"**

Ben gave a wink to the girls that were screaming as he finished, making some of them squeal in delight. The entire village cheered, some taking a swig while others laughed. As they all did so, Kurois ended up piggy backing a woman who was knocked out, most likely from the drinks that went around. The teen had a little trouble at first, but with a little help from the kid, they got through.

"Hey mister, having fun?" The kid asked Kurois. The teen scoffed,

"I would be if I didn't have to carry your mom back to the other side of the village!" Kurois joked. He turned around, looking at the village. For once in his entire time in service, he felt happy. It seemed like this village could erase the bad memories of your past.

"Just look at them," Kurois chuckled, "having such a good time." The kid agreed, and the two kept walking to the other dim part of the village. When Kurois waddled to his destination, he set down the kid's mother on a bed. Kurois grunted, smiling and brushing off his shoulders. He sat down for a small break. His ankle didn't seem to fully heal yet. The teen was smiling, but then the smile disappeared as he saw the military wear that was hanging outside.

That's right. Kurois knew what was going to happen. They were going to have to leave. Kurois sighed, and didn't notice that the kid also jumped on the bed.

"Mister? I'm tired. I'm going to go to sleep, okay mister?" Kurois snapped out of his little trance, and he gave a crooked smile,

"Yeah, sure. See you tomorrow." The kid fell asleep in less than thirty seconds, and Kurois sat there, sighing.

"Hey! Ben! Sing another song!" A voice called out from the villagers. Everybody agreed, and they ended up pushing Ben back into where he was before. Jonsey put down the guitar and picked up a Saxophone. Ben gave him a look, and Jonsey laughed.

"Alright, alright! I'll sing another one. This one's going to be the last one I sing alright?"

"Aw, come on Ben!"

"Ah, let him go! He sang enough for us today!"

"Go on Ben! Sing!" Ben laughed, and he cleared his throat as Jonsey and some of the villagers started to play a very jazzy instrumental until they quieted so that Ben could start singing.

"**Start spreadin' the news, I'm leavin' today**

**I want to be a part of it, New York, New York**

**These vagabond shoes, they are longing to stray**

**Right through the very heart of it, New York, New York**

**I wanna wake up, in that city that doesn't sleep**

**And find I'm king of the hill, top of the heap**

**These little town blues, are melting away**

**I'll make a brand new start of it, in old New York**

**If I can make it there, I can make it anywhere**

**It's up to you, New York, New York**

**I want to wake up, in a city that never sleeps**

**And find I'm A-number one, top of the list**

**King of the hill, A-number one"**

At this time, the band stopped, and Ben took a deep breath. Everybody was dead quiet, but Ben smiled and went on with the band,

"**These little town blues, are melting away**

**I'm going to make a brand new start of it, in old New York**

**A-nd if I can make it there, you know I can make it anywhere**

**It's up to you, New York, New York, New Yo-rk!"**

By the time that Ben was done, everybody was cheering as loud as they can while the band still played their instruments. Jonsey was really going at it with the saxophone, lost in his world of music. Ben was greeted with cheers and a couple of drinks as he was done. The rest of the night was spent partying it up, and it didn't seem like it was going to end any time soon…

#####

"Alright! Listen up! We're one minute from the drop zone! Check your gear!" The leader of the air cadets yelled out over the hum of the airplane's engines to the cadets that were sitting down on the sides, next to the fuselage. They all checked their weapons, their HUDs, and their Jet Packs.

"It's time! Now, we will be dropping in a hot zone! Intel tells us that it's possible that an Aeonian base is hidden around here! They will outnumber us, and they will NOT hesitate to kill you violently!" The cadets all shifted uneasily.

"Alright gentlemen, good luck! Green light! The doors are open, go go go!" The air cadets all got off their seats and let out a shout as they jumped out. All of the cadets were now falling towards the ground at an alarming rate, and they saw the light of what they thought was an Aeonian military base.

"Ignition!" The leader yelled out. That was the cue, and that was when they were supposed to ignite their jet packs and hover down to the earth. The key phrase of the sentence before this one was "supposed to." To the horror of all air cadets, their HUDs malfunctioned, and their jet packs failed to ignite. Most of them fell straight towards their death, but the ones that could think fast enough let out the emergency parachute that was hidden in the compartment of the jet pack.

After moments of screams, shouts, sickening thuds and cries, the remaining air cadets regrouped at the ground. They looked down at the so called military base from a mile away and recounted their force number. Apparently, Intel didn't know that the Electromagnetic field in Rosetta could malfunction HUDs and jet pack equipment.

"Alright. So, only eight of us made it. That doesn't change a damn thing. Let's proceed with the mission, we've found what we've been looking for. Our HUDs are fried, so stay sharp and stay frosty," The leader of the air cadets put a boot down onto a rock, huffing out his frustration.

"We've found it. Let's show these bastards that we're not a force to be reckoned with!"

#####

Phew! Took a lotta effort to write this one. Had to fish into my head to find what to do next. I would really appreciate if you guys can review, telling me what part of the story you liked/disliked. It's funny cause I finished this while I should've been studying for AP testing. I got this chapter out, and now I have six days left to study! Man, I'm going to fail the World History test! Once again, sorry for the delay! Don't lose hope in me! I'll never stop writing!

CJ

Oh. P.S. If I ever do stop writing for a RIDICULOUSLY long time, it can mean one or more of the following: My computers are gone, my parents found out about me writing these stories, I'm dead, or I left for a really long vacation.

P.P.S.

Bet you guys are wondering what Rosetta is. Well, here's what it is. Back when Aeonia and Neolia were one big happy Aeolia, they set up pockets of areas that were supposed to be preserves for people who lived in the ways that would be equivalent to what we would be living today (Without some technological stuff). This was known as the Rosetta Stone Project. Each village is protected by a VERY strong electromagnetic field, frying any conventional equipment that either side of the war would be using. This explains the lack of the latest technology. Everything pretty much fries up before it can get there, truly making it a preserve for the old life.

Just an FYI.


	16. Shattered Peace

Jeez. Right after AP tests, there's finals. Give me a break…

Alright! I'm back, and that's all that matters! Prepare yourselves, this is where the story turns a little for the worst. Hopefully, you haven't been enjoying too much of this peaceful talk cause it's about to get curb stomped. Man, I got so depressed when I wrote this chapter…

Yeesh, I need to stop talking! On with the story!

#####

The first casualty of war is innocence.

**Shattered Peace**

#####

Teacher Michael was chuckling to himself, talking with the little kids as he went over some of the things that he taught them. The party was still at its peak, and the fires and dim light bulbs illuminated the areas where he was conversing with others. As he laughed, he looked up to the entrance of the village, and his face fell as he stood up with his hands high above his head. The kids around him looked at him funny and did the same while they were laughing.

The village chief was smiling as he was sitting and talking with the villagers around him, but once he saw the group of soldiers headed their way, his smile faded to a thin line. The music stops, the playing halts to a grim stop, and everybody stays silent as the paratroopers walk their way. Matthew Thorn silently retreated to the back of the villagers, and so didthe captain. Everybody else stayed exactly where they were. The villagers all gathered together to greet the battle faced, lightly armored paratroopers that had their guns pointed towards the villagers. The leader of the air cadets stood still and glared at a handful of villagers while the rest of the cadets walked around and looked at the villagers up and down.

Ash gulped as a cadet walked by, who was eyeing him suspiciously before he moved onto the next villager. Kamil was held a stone face, not saying a word despite the fact that these were his own countrymen. Todd and Howey both did the same, and Jonsey was still on the stage with his instrument. He placed it down and walked down to calmly walk towards the paratroopers. The situation was bad for the eight original soldiers, they were all spread about, and they didn't know what to do.

"He's staring at us; I think we should greet him."

"Does he want that? He kind of looks unfriendly,"

"Nah, he should be fine. Besides, we already made eye contact. We might as well say hello." Three villagers walked up to the leader of the cadets and bowed, all of them saying hello and greeting the leader with a smile. The leader steps forward with a malicious grin.

"See? He's smiling," One of the villagers said to the other. Without warning, the leader slams his fist into the stomach of the middle villager, causing him to drop to his knees.

"You think I'm fucking around, huh? Do you think I'm fucking around? Do I look like I'm fucking around!" The leader walks over and kicks the middle villager twice before walking back and raising his gun into the air.

"Teacher Michael, what does fuck mean?" A child asked the teacher. The teacher gulped,

"It's a word adults use when they're angry, my child." The leader fires off three warning shots, causing most of the villagers to jump from the cracks of his rifle. The women held their babies close, and everybody was staying still and watching the villagers help the one that was down and hurt.

"See? Told you we shouldn't have done that." The leader turned around to face the village,

"You fucking Aeonians are driving my patience thin. Where the fuck are you keeping the POWs?" Nobody said a word, but he stood his ground and waited for an answer. One air cadet walking next to Kamil noticed the girl in red, who was grinning and waving to the soldier. The air cadet huffed and walked towards the girl; Kamil gulped and nervously stared as the two got closer.

"Hey, where are those green bastards hiding, huh?" The man asked the girl. The girl giggled,

"Sorry mister, I don't know what a bastard is." The man scoffed, grabbing the girl, pulling her closer and making her get a good look of his intimidating face. He pushed her back and put his rifle to her head.

"You wanna know what happens when a head gets shot? Huh?" The girl paused, looking at the gun with great interest. She smiled, putting a finger in the barrel and moving the gun up and down from the soldier. He pulled his rifle back, a little shocked at the movement.

"You bitch, I'm gonna-"

"Don't! She's mental!" The soldiers all turned to Kamil, who was wide eyed and sweating. Ash, who was standing next to him, felt heavy hearted when the girl's smile disappeared. She gave Kamil a sad look, but Kamil wasn't focused on her. The paratrooper turned around and walked towards Kamil, walking around him in a circle as Kamil stood still.

"What about you? You look like a southerner yourself." The paratrooper put a hand on his head, turning him and staring at his features.

"Where are your parents?"

Silence. The paratrooper walked towards the villagers while pointing his gun at Kamil with one hand.

"Does this kid have no parents?"

"He's my child!" A woman said aloud with another villager. Everybody turned. Sure enough, the same hair color and eye color were the same of Kamil's. The paratrooper looked at the couple. The two were holding hands, and were worryingly looking at the soldier. Everybody was silent for what seemed like an eternity before Kamil slowly walked over to the couple and stood in between them. The paratrooper scoffed, moving to walk away. They looked similar enough.

The leader motioned to another air soldier, who walked towards Todd. Todd backed up, and the air soldier followed his steps until he was led out of the group of villagers. Before anyone else could do anything, a woman and a child both ran up to him and grasped his leg and arm. The air soldier quickly turned his gun onto them, his breathing getting a little shallower at the sudden movement.

"He's this boy's father, what do you want from him?" The woman asked.

"Daddy!" The child buried his face into Todd's thy. Todd patted the kid in the back, but the soldier looked unconvinced. Why? Because the kid looked almost nothing like the father. The father didn't have silver hair or golden eyes. The air soldier stepped closer, but then everybody turned when the village chief stood up. He walked over to the soldier that was looking at Todd, gesturing to the man.

"Why must you be so riled up? How can we help you?" The paratrooper turned, and his stress went beyond his level and he ended up kicking the village chief in the leg and making him fall to the ground. Captain Durant and Matthew looked at each other. Both of them held grim faces. Matthew will most likely be recognized and Captain Durant would have to unwillingly cooperate to get rid of the Aeonian soldiers if he turned himself in. Both of them stood with the feeling of uselessness.

"Who the hell do you think you are, you old bastard?" The paratrooper said as he kicked again. Ash tried to walk over, but an air soldier hit him behind the knees and he was abruptly forced down on his knees.

"Sit your fucking ass down!" The cadet barked at Ash. The air soldier/cadet was only a couple of years older than Ash, and Ash figured he could take him down, judging by his thinner build. Ash, however, complied, watching in horror as the paratrooper handed his rifle to a nearby cadet.

"Are you bastards playing with us?" He grasped the old man's hair as he was kneeling, forcing him to look up at him.

"Have you seen any Aeon Greenies or anti-aircraft guns of the sort? Huh?" No one answered, and that led him to his next action. He reared his fist and slammed it right into the old man's jaw. The old man fell to the ground, and the soldier picked him up by the hair again.

"Will no one step forward? Come on! No one?" He slammed his fist into him again. The old was letting out groans of pain, and Jonsey had to hold Howey's shoulder to prevent him from running forward to kick his ass. The air soldier bent over and picked up the chief again, this time dragging him to a wood stump. He slammed the village chief's head to the stump, causing blood to rush from the chief's mouth.

Todd turned his face away, hiding the kid's face as well. The paratrooper did it again; Ash and Kamil both clenched their fists. The paratrooper did it one more time, this time making it a little harder than usual. The village chief let out a sharp cry of pain. Matthew slowly made his way forward, his eyes wide and his teeth bared with an unknown object in his hand. None of the paratroopers were paying attention to him as he stopped to hide himself behind two rows of villagers.

"Still no one? Dammed dogs!" Matthew's grasp on his object tightened as his eyes grew wider. The memories of the bridge came back, and the sight of all of the elderly, the women, and the children flooded his head as the soldier did it once more. And another. And another. Blood was all over the stump now, and the poor old man was silent.

"Fucking… Listen up very closely," the air soldier shouted at the village, "until someone comes forward, I'm gonna fucking kill you all one by one! I'm gonna kill you all!"

"GRRRAAAAAGH!" Matthew ran forward out of the crowd, rearing his right arm and swinging his object right onto the soldier's neck. The sickle cut out the man's throat, and Matthew tackled him down and swung twice, slicing the neck once more. All of the villagers were screaming and running away, creating havoc for the paratroopers.

The other paratroopers were all turned towards the scene, and one of them held his rifle to his shoulder, but Todd, being the nearest one, uppercutted the man's chin and caused his gun to fire on full auto towards the sky. Todd quickly wrestled the weapon out of his hands and used the butt of the rifle to smack it into the air soldier's face once more, making him fall down. Todd then unloaded the entire magazine onto the man, using his foot to keep him down. There wasn't any use to that, since the first bullet was fatal through the heart. The child and the woman looked away as Todd's shoe and leg was covered in blood when he was done.

The paratroopers were now panicking, and one of them tried to shoot Todd, but Captain Durant came in from behind to kill him. He held the young paratrooper in a chokehold, leaning back so that he couldn't be flipped over. The captain then reached for the paratrooper's knife, and then used it against him as he stabbed him multiple times.

Howey used a nearby chair, slamming it into one of the cadets' heads. Unfortunately, the cadet fired his weapon while he was hit, making him spin and shoot some rounds into the villagers. Jonsey picked up the gun that was dropped from Howey's target and fired it at the leader of the paratroopers, who died before he could let out a single shot.

Kamil took a bottle of beer that was left on one of the tables and slammed it into the side of another paratrooper's face, shattering it and using the remains to cut him and punch him as he mercilessly beat him in the face over and over while he forcefully put his knees on his arms.

Ash got up from his sitting position to land a direct punch into the unsuspecting air soldier that forced him to sit down. His punched landed straight onto his nose, and Ash pushed tackled him to the ground as the gun landed away from the both of them. Ash kicked the cadet off, running to the gun that was a couple feet away. He dived for it, grabbing it as he turned around. The air soldier got back up with a knife in reared above his head, and he charged Ash. Unfortunately for him, Ash managed to get on one knee on the grass as he squeezed the trigger and fired as the man fell onto the barrel and later slumped onto him with bullets exploding out of his back. At other times, Ash would feel guilty and immoral to kill another person. This time, he felt no remorse.

The remaining paratrooper panicked, he dropped his gun out of fear, and then he pulled out his side arm and reached for the nearest person he could grab. Unfortunately, he grabbed Ben, who was standing on the sidelines. Both of them widened their eyes, and the cadet put the pistol to Ben's head as he backed up, away from the villagers.

"I'll shoot! Get back, I'll fucking shoot him!" The original soldiers all moved towards him, guns at their shoulders and pointing at the soldier. Jonsey and Ash looked at each other and put their fingers on the trigger, aiming down the sights right at the paratrooper's-

"Ugh!" The cadet fell, letting go of Ben as he crumpled to the ground. Behind the two was Kurois, who held a big rock in between his hands. Kurois then looked at the rest of the village with a grim face. A bunch of houses and glass were broken from the stray firing, seven soldiers lay dead with one unconscious, and the villagers were all crowding around a person on the floor.

"You alright?" Kamil got Ben up to his feet. The poor boy was shaking from his near death experience, and he sat down on a nearby chair. The others threw their guns on the floor, sighing as they realized at what just happened. Todd and Howey quickly found a rope from one of the buildings and ran out to tie up the unconscious air cadet. The soldiers were separated from the villagers, and the nine of them stared at the villagers while they recovered. Some villagers helped the chief back on his feet, who was still alive, while others tried to clean the messes that were made. However, everybody went silent as they heard a woman crying.

"Flora! Flora! Flora, please, what should we do village chief? Flora, Flora!" The village chief knelt down, putting a hand on the girl in red, who was now lying on the ground. Kamil's eyes widened as he pushed his way through the crowd to get a view of the girl.

"Flora! Hold on, we're going to help you somehow!" The village chief said with a higher tone in his voice. The girl in red that hung out with Kamil so much, Flora, now looked at him. Kamil knelt down, holding the girl's hand while whispering,

"Oh God, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean any of that at all, please forgive me!" Kamil said as he grasped the girl's hand. Everybody fell silent, and Kurois closed his eyes and turned away. This scene was much too familiar for him.

"I… knew… it…" Flora smiled at Kamil. "Kamil… it hurts…" Her other hand was covered over a bullet wound that was a little to her right of her heart. Kamil clenched his hands over hers,

"It's gonna… It's gonna be alright! We're going to help you, just hang on," all of the villagers started to cry, from the looks of it, she was bleeding too much. Ash put a hand over his mouth, there was nothing he could do and no word could ever express how sorry he felt right then and there.

Kamil started to shed a couple tears before he shifted and held her head in the crook of his arm while he held her close. She was trying to say something, but Kamil couldn't quite hear it. She let go of her wound and put it on the side of Kamil's face. She mustered all of her strength to bring her lips to Kamil's ear, whispering something that nobody else could hear but him. When she finished, her hand fell, leaving a streak of blood along the side of his face. Kamil sat wide eyed, shaking as he held her body close to him. His head was fixed, and he couldn't move it when he held her close, giving him an eerie expression.

At approximately midnight, Flora, the granddaughter of the Rosetta Village Chief, died in the arms of a Neolian soldier with a smile on her face. Kamil then lied her down on the soft grass so that the Village chief and his wife could mourn over her death. The rest of the village started to weep. She was the joy of the entire village, and now, she was gone. There she was, her innocent life taken away, just like that. Nobody could believe it. Kamil stood up, shaking as he slowly walked over to the rest of the soldiers.

"Kamil, I-" Ash started, but Kamil pushed him aside as he stormed his way to the tied up paratrooper. The paratrooper was now conscious, and he watched as Kamil picked up a nearby rifle, pulled the bolt back, and used the butt of the rifle to slam it into the side of the tied man's head. Nobody tried to stop him, and Kamil put the gun to his shoulder as he aimed down the sights of the gun towards the man that was now writhing on the ground with pain. Kamil grit his teeth, putting a little squeeze on the trigger, but then he stopped.

Kamil's thoughts went back. Back to when Flora was the first person to approach him in the village. Back to when Flora wiped his face with a cloth when he was out in the rain, back to when Flora hung with him while he was working, back to when Flora ran with him in the race. Kamil thought of those times, up till when she whispered her confession into his ear.

"_Kamil… I really… Like you…"_

He couldn't do it. He couldn't pull the trigger. Kamil's face scrunched up, tears streaking down the side of his face as he grit his teeth. Kamil dropped the gun and walked away from the man, standing a fair distance away from everybody. The villagers and the soldiers could faintly hear the boy sobbing as he stood, facing the forest towards where they first met.

Ash looked down, shedding a couple of tears. Captain Durant and Ben both looked down also, they both knew Kamil very closely, and he didn't take things well when things important to him were taken away. Matthew and Kurois looked away, refusing to look at anybody, and the rest just silently stared at him as his sobs turned to whimpers.

#####

The unconscious soldier woke up abruptly on a chair, tied down with his hands behind his back. He was slapped awake, and he was blinded by multiple lights that were directed towards his face.

"Ben. Search this guy like we searched the others."

"Roger that." The unconscious soldier then struggled in his seat while a pair of hands searched in his clothes to find weapons and intelligence. To his dismay, a small package was taken out of his vest pocket.

"Hey! Check it out, I got something." After a moment of silence, the lights dimmed down and the unconscious soldier could only see one boy, Matthew. The soldier got a map with other documents shoved into his face.

"What is this!" Matthew asked harshly. The once unconscious soldier spat,

"In about a day or so, this whole village is going to hell. How does that sound you traitor!" Matthew reared a fist, but his fist was held back from somebody.

"There's nobody but villagers here, why would you want to do anything to this place?" A teenage voice asked him.

"Forget it. Captain Durant, let's just shoot his ass," A different voice was added into the mix. The interrogated replied,

"Wait… Captain Durant?" After the soldier said that, the lights dimmed and all of the soldiers were visible. They were in a basement with stone walls, and they were all holding the weapons that were dropped from the air soldiers and cadets.

"Yeah, and how do you know me?" Captain Durant walked forward. The interrogated gulped, and he opened his mouth…

#####

The nine soldiers sat around a desk in the first floor, all of them looking at the documents and the map placed in the table in the middle of the room. A dreadful silence fell between the group, and they all shook their heads at one point or another.

"I can't believe this," Ash whispered, staring at a picture on the table.

"Believe it or not, it's gonna happen, and we're not prepared to do anything about it in a day! We don't even have the weaponry to stand up against a bionic, biological weapon along with a platoon from a search and destroy division!" Todd slammed his fist on the table.

"Calm down, we need to assess what we can do. Since the enemy is going to arrive at this area," Jonsey told everybody as he pushed some of the documents to get to the map, "we need to set up an ambushing point here."

"Even with the weapons we captured, it's hardly enough ammo take down the enemy. Not to mention our lack of man power and equipment," Captain Durant.

"A-Are we seriously going to stay and protect this village?" Everybody glared at Ben, who was nervously shaking at the table.

"You can't be serious," Todd told Ben. The boy then shut up and looked down at his feet.

"What should we do?" Kamil asked gravely. The group sat around the table and sat in silence once more.

"Hey guys," the whole group turned to Kurois, who let out a deep sigh, "I… found something." Everybody looked at each other, and then looked at Kurois.

#####

In the middle of the night, the nine soldiers stood around a pile of military equipment and arms in the middle. They stood outside of the "Sleeping Bird" that the kid showed Kurois, and they pulled out the boxes and opened them. A dim lantern lit up the area, giving sheen of the cold, untouched weapons laid out in front of them. In those boxes, they found the following:

3 M4 Tactical Carbines, each with twelve magazines magazines worth of ammunition

1 Barett .50 caliber Sniper Rifle with four magazines and one hundred rounds

1 Stinger Surface to Air shoulder fired launcher with three rockets

2 Elf Wars Z-64 Squad Automatic Weapons used by humans with a substantial amount of ammunition

2 Anti Golem Shoulder fired cannons, each a one time use

1 Anti personnel minigun with a tripod and a whole box filled with ammo

2 .50 caliber Heavy Machine guns with about a thousand rounds each.

Along with these weapons, there were short wave radios that worked from the protective boxes, a large amount of grenades and C4, and a couple of camouflaged tents.

"Hey… wouldn't this be enough to replicate a mini Aeolian base?" Howey asked.

"With the right set up, we can make this look like an anti aircraft base or a scouting base if needed be. With some of the tools from the village, we can probably pull it off," Matthew replied.

"With these weapons, we can probably hold off against the Neolians for a while. According to what we've seen on the way here, there's supposed to be a hill with an abandoned building at the top," Captain Durant said as he walked over and eyed the minigun that was placed on the ground.

"Ben?" Ash asked the kid next to him. The teen nervously shook his head,

"No! I won't do it! I mean, can't we just leave? We're just third parties here!" Ben shouted as he backed up against the fuselage of the plane. Everybody sighed; they weren't surprised at his reaction.

"Are you telling me I can't avenge the death of someone who cared for me?" Kamil went up and held Ben by the shirt. Kurois broke the two up, pushing the two away from each other.

"Enough. Ben, man up. And Kamil, don't do this for the dead, do this for the living. No matter what you do, you can't bring her back," Kurois remarked rather bluntly, his gold eyes looking down into the ground.

"I know this too well." Kurois sadly looked at Kamil. The blonde haired boy yelled back,

"What would you know, huh?"

"Kamil…" Ash said as he put a hand on the boy's shoulder. Kamil grunted and grit his teeth.

"I know, I'm overreacting. Sorry." Ash shook his head,

"It's not that." Kamil looked up and looked at Kurois, who was coldly staring at the ground. Kamil gulped, and he watched as Kurois limped to pick up an M4.

"Ben, don't worry, we're just gonna kill the Type-25 thing, fire a couple of warning shots, then run and lead them away from the village. From there, we can probably make it to a neutral area," Howey pat Ben's back.

"You and I both know that's not true!" Ben shoved Howey away. Everybody was already anxious, and Ben wasn't helping. Kamil looked at Durant,

"Captain?" Captain Durant was leaning against the wall of the fuselage, and he uncrossed his arms as he walked forward.

"How many prisoners have we killed Ben? How many times have we shot our own men because they didn't follow orders?" Captain Durant asked the boy. Everybody was silent.

"Todd and I have killed an endless amount of Neolian soldiers along with recorded civilian collateral casualties. It's time we repay that debt," Howey told Ben as he took a metal box filled with belts of ammunition. Captain Durant reached down and picked up a radio to put in his pocket.

"It's time to repay our debt also Ben. It's about time somebody does something right in this war." Captain Durant softly said, extending a rifle to Ben. The boy wasn't convinced.

"I can't do it! I WON"T do it! Even if!..." Ben paused, the light reflecting off of his scared face, "Even if it were my own family, I wouldn't do it…"

"Are you telling me that you're willing to ditch human lives?" Kamil asked with a rise of volume. Matthew put a hand on Kamil's shoulder, making him calm down as he approached Ben.

"If you back out, you'll probably be safe. But you know what? You know what happens to a man who lives in constant, traumatic regret? It'll drive you crazy."

"Says you! You don't care anyway! You wanted to die in the first place!" Ben exclaimed.

"If you want to do that, then fine. But for me, I have my own promise to keep." Everybody turned to Kurois, who sat down on a box and ran a hand through his spiky hair.

"And you too! You're crazy too! You can go ahead and do this too!" Ben exclaimed. Kurois sighed.

"Tell me Ben… how many more people do I have to hurt?" Ben fell silent as Kurois slowly raised his head to look at Ben with those empty, golden eyes.

"How many times do I have to see Violet die in my arms? How many nights do I have to go through, living that moment over and over?" Jonsey sighed as he walked over to Kurois and sat down on a box next to him, giving him some company. After a dreadful minute, Ash walked over, picked up an M4 and said to the others,

"Well, guys, what're we waiting for? Let's get to it." Everybody seemed to agree. They all got up, each finding a weapon to shoulder and a piece of equipment to hold. Ben swore, and he sighed as Ash gave him a faint smile and gave him the remaining assault rifle. After a couple of seconds of gathering weaponry, Jonsey looked up and chuckled as a couple of orange fall leaves fell on them. Everybody looked around to marvel at them, even in the dark, the area had a mystical aura about it.

"This operation," Captain Durant started, smiling, "This operation should be led by Sergeant Matthew Thorn and Todd." The two swung their heads to give the captain a blank look.

"These weapons are too damn new for me Todd," The Captain said as he held a SAW. "You'll have to teach us a thing or two about these weapons!" The Captain was the first to leave, and the rest of the soldiers were left in confusion at the shift of power. Matthew sighed, blinking.

"We should get some sleep. Matt, can you come over to my cabin? We need to discuss some stuff. The rest of you guys, get some shuteye. Leave the weapons here; we'll be leaving the village tomorrow. Let's go," Todd said as he took the lantern and turned the light off, blanketing the entire area with darkness.

#####

'_She's sleeping.' Ash simply thought as he knelt down to Latias, who was lying down on a mattress of nothingness. Ash sighed as he ran a hand through the pokemon's form, running his fingers through the curves of her head and the down on her neck. Ash sat down, sitting so that he could hold Latias's head and let it rest on his lap. She shifted a little on his head, and she snuggled in closer towards Ash as he held her closer. Ash sadly looked at her sleeping form, wishing that she would wake up somehow. Deep down, he somehow knew that nothing could wake her up in this state, even though this was a dream._

"_Latias… I wish I can tell you." Ash pet her head, enjoying the feeling of her soft down in a bittersweet emotion. He slowly leaned down to give the Latias a peck on the nose before sighing and quickly wiping a tear that streaked down his cheek._

#####

Birds were chirping in the following early morning, singing as if none of the events yesterday ever happened. The villagers were all up and out. This time, instead of them farming, they were all standing in one large group at the entrance of the village. At the other side of the entrance were the nine soldiers that all came to the village that one fateful day, all dressed in the uniforms and equipment they came in. All of the nine soldiers looked down; none of them could face the villagers ever since the incident last night. The interrogated soldier, who was now out of his bindings, stood grimly also, realizing what a mistake his officers made.

Ash looked up at the villagers, but once he looked up, the villagers looked down. Kamil blankly stared at the villagers, looking down at his palm to show the ring part of the safety pin on the grenade that Daisy pulled on that one time she pulled the grenade that blew up the corn. After a minute of a grim silence, the soldiers all turned to walk away from the village. They made it three or four steps before they heard a voice:

"Wait, stop." The soldiers all turned around as a villager came to them with a large package of surplus food.

"Traveling is… going to be a bit tough." Captain Durant accepted it with two hands before he nodded with thanks. The villager went back to the rest of the villagers, standing with the other villagers in silence. The nine soldiers looked at the village once more, giving a good glance at the old ways that made them feel at a place where they could call home. The village, the people, the food, everything they enjoyed here almost made them walk back and set down their guns.

Before they were tempted any more to do so, the nine turned around and walked away.

"Mister!" Kurois turned abruptly to get a good look at that one kid run towards him and give him a hug around the waist. Kurois was a little shocked for a moment, but then he knelt down and gave the kid a genuine hug. Kurois let go of him and put a hand on the kid's shoulder, giving the kid the camera that they found together in that sleeping bird that they discovered. The kid started to cry, and pulled Kurois into a hug again.

"I don't want you to leave…" The boy hiccupped. Kurois sighed and hugged the boy tight too.

"I don't want to leave either kid." The rest of the soldiers looked away from the touching scene to get a good luck at the villagers themselves. Sure enough, they were shedding a couple of tears. A lot of them turned away because they didn't want to be seen crying, but most of them openly showed that they were going to miss them too. Ash gave the villagers a weak smile, having comfort in knowing that they weren't hated for what happened.

After a couple of more minutes of talking with the small child, Kurois separated from the kid and stood up, limping as he tried to catch up with the soldiers. The soldiers all turned around, walking away without saying a word.

"Hey! Are we going to see you all again?" A villager asked. The soldiers paused. The soldiers' backs were all turned on the village, and they couldn't face the village once more. Matthew, who was leading the soldiers away, scoffed and smirked as he started walking again, leading the soldiers behind him as they trekked onward to their operation area.

#####

It took about two hours to carry all of the equipment to the area on the map where they decided to set up defensive positions. The soldiers found a great hill to set up their defensive positions, and the ten soldiers had a height advantage in their defensive positions.

"Alright, here's what we're going to do," Matthew said as he knelt on one knee while he spread out the map on a metal cargo box, "We'll start our first defensive line here at the bottom. The Type-25 will be sent in first. According to the intelligence we have, it's not supposed to be that smart of a weapon since it's a prototype. Don't be fooled though, this thing is meant to be a weapon of mass destruction. Be careful. We'll take that out using the Anti Golem cannons that we'll set up here and here.

"After that, we'll fall back to our second defensive line. Make sure you don't step on any C4 or TNT we set up. Make sure that we fall back _immediately _after killing 'The Fool.' Once we get into position, we'll wait until the platoon comes our way. Once they're in position, we'll set off the explosives and lay down some fire with our .50 calibers. Make sure you cover the flanks, because we're highly vulnerable there.

"Jonsey, the entire time, you'll be back at our last defensive position, which will be set up at the highest point of the hill. We'll communicate by using the short wave radios. The incoming platoon won't have any of its conventional comms equipment so talk freely. We'll be counting on you if things get hairy.

"In between the second and our last defensive line will be the minigun. While we're falling back, Howey, I want you to take control of the minigun and cover us. Once you use up all of your ammo, Todd will blow some more explosives at the defensive positions that we were in at defense line two. Our final defense point will be at the peak of the hill. The abandoned two story building is a perfect last stand if needed. This is where we'll keep the stinger launcher and the weapons we picked off the paratroopers."

"Also, make sure you conserve your ammo. Only shoot at what you can hit. Try to fire in bursts as much as possible," Todd added.

"Jonsey, Ben, and Howey, set up the metal defenses and light the lights we brought when the time comes. We want to look like a bigger force than we already are. Todd, Kamil, and I will take care of the explosives. We'll set up the MGs and the cannons at the end, together" Matthew finished. Everybody nodded and stood up to get ready for their defense in the fall colored forest.

"Wait, what're we doing?" Ash asked Matthew. Kurois, Durant, and the interrogated soldier also had the same question. Matthew crossed his arms and grunted.

"You four will not be in this fight."

"What? Why?" Captain Durant asked Matthew Thorn, "Just because I gave you the commanding rank doesn't mean-"

"We need to make sure another incident like this never happens again. If a second attack comes, it's all over. The same goes for the Aeonian forces, if they choose to do the same thing the Neolians did, who knows what might happen?" Matthew told the four.

"Captain Durant, you'll take our buddy here and go back. They'll believe your words, especially with him from the paratroopers that came earlier," Matthew pointed towards the interrogated soldier. The paratrooper nodded, understanding.

"Thorn," Captain Durant said while taking off his cap. He handed Matthew his officer cap, eagerly letting go when he felt it leave his hand.

"When I get back, I'll make sure to set this war straight," Captain Durant told the boy. The blue haired boy looked down at the cap that he was handed and put it on. He saluted Captain Durant and nodded. He was in charge now.

"I'm proud of what you've done. You're a born leader, unlike me," Captain Durant smiled. A couple of minutes later, they left to Neolia, where their objective was. Ash didn't like the idea of leaving, not one bit. He stomped his right foot forward towards Matthew, making his point.

"There's no way you're making me leave you guys! I'm staying here; I'm not going to abandon you!" Ash yelled at Matthew. The blue haired boy frowned,

"You're not abandoning us. You're actually doing us a big favor. According to what I've heard from Jonsey, you also have someone to go back to, am I right?" Ash paused, gulping as Latias crossed his mind.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"Not to mention that with you possibly risking your life in this operation, you might be breaking a promise made by someone else. Don't you think that the situation you're in right now is a big enough hassle for that person? You have to respect that person's promise also." Ash backed down, Latias herself was the biggest reason to go back. He couldn't help but feel guilty though…

"Don't worry about us Ketchup, just worry about getting back to base and making sure that this doesn't happen again," Jonsey pat Ash on the shoulder. Ash looked at his sniping partner with worry,

"Are you sure? What about your spotter?" Jonsey laughed, giving Ash a hearty shake.

"Don't worry about me bro, I got myself covered." Ash gave Jonsey a handshake and a hug, nodding to each other before understanding. Ash had a major role, and he understood that his was probably the most important. Kamil also walked up to Ash, giving him a hand shake.

"Ash, you taught me a lot. I… hope that we can see each other some other time," Kamil said nervously. Ash chuckled, pulling Kamil into a hug.

"Don't worry, we will." Ash and Kamil smiled and shared a laugh before punching each other in the shoulder.

"Man, if we met some other place at some other time, we all would've had fun, huh?" Kamil asked. Ash sadly smiled,

"Yeah, we would've." While Ash and Kamil were talking, Kurois was aggravated by the order that he was given.

"Why can't I stay? I need to-"

"No. You'll escort Ash out of here. Not to mention that your ankle is still in bad shape. You can't do what you do best, and what you do best isn't really needed here in this defensive position," Matthew stated while uncrossing his arms and grabbing two of the rifles that were picked off from the now dead and buried air cadets. He also handed the two guns to Ash and Kuoris. He also gave them their ammunition also.

"If you stay in this operation, you'll slow us down, risking the lives of others as well as yourself. If you fall behind, we're going to have to wait for you, whether you like it or not. We've grown close, a bit too close. What happens when you break your ankle again? If you fall behind, you'll get captured, killed, or blown up by our own explosives. I'm asking you to make sure Ash gets back to the Aeonian base safely. The Aeonians will believe both of your words also. Make sure that a second attack doesn't come to Rosetta. You, of all people, should understand the severity of this job."

"I can fight!" Kurois grit his teeth. Matthew stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I know you can, but I don't want you here. You need to go back cause you have others to protect. We're all dammed men, each one of us. We all deserve to die here, not you. You're living your life how a real soldier should. Your time isn't up yet." Matthew stared Kurois down, red eyes to gold, until the gold pair finally looked down and away.

"Fine. Just… take care of yourself." Matthew gave the two young soldiers a smirk,

"I gave you two this job for a reason. I trust you guys." Ash and Kurois reluctantly nod, and the two racked the bolts back on their guns and slung them over their shoulders. Kurois sighed, giving everybody a look. This was a rare time when he actually showed emotion towards the people around him. He got a bit too close to these soldiers. When he looked at them, they looked back and smiled.

"Come on Kurois, let's go," Ash motioned to the black haired, golden eyed teen. The two looked back at the now smirking blue haired boy, standing with his arms crossed confidently as he watched the two trudge south towards Aeonia.

#####

Dang, this actually took a while to write cause it downright depressed me. Right when you get to know the loveable, crazy, girl in red's name, I kill her off. I'm surprised at my own writing; I'm so cruel (Goes to cry in corner)

Well, I've got finals now. Wish me luck! I'll do my best to write and update as soon as possible, just hang tight!


	17. When I Go Home

**Oh man… I'm really sorry guys! I was ridiculously busy over the summer! And when I mean busy, I mean busy busy busy. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but long story short: It's junior year, I'm four days behind because I went to Korea, and I'm taking HARD classes this year. Don't expect me to update often cause hey, this year's very important for me. Please understand.**

**I know that some of you guys are expecting to read an awesome fight, but I simply can't write it as of now. This chapter was actually supposed to be connected with the fight, but hey, I had to put something on. It's a bit short, but I really liked this chapter. Some nice man to man (Err, teen to teen? Boy to boy?) talk in this chapter. **

**Quick shout out to latiasxash (or ashxlatias… whatever man, you know who you are) Thanks for stopping by and reading! (Hopefully you're still reading, ahah!). And thanks for everybody who reads this story! I'm proud to say that this is probably my fourth year doing this!**

**Ahhhh, too much talking. Just enjoy the rushed, non edited, non proofread chapter!**

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"_When I go home, and people ask me: 'Hey Hoot, why'd you do it? Why? What are you, some kind of war junkie or something?'_

_I won't say a Goddamn word. Why? Cause they don't understand. They don't understand that it's about the man next to you. And that's it. That's all there is to it."_

Hoot (Blackhawk Down)

#####

**When I Go Home…**

#####

Fear and alertness, that's what Ash and Kurois both felt. Their bodies crouched low, moving in a walking pace at the treeline to avoid enemy detection or jump out right away to signal to friendly aircraft. Kurois's limp wasn't as bad as before, but the obvious staggering showed signs of unrecovered wounds. After a half hour of listening intently for any sign of movement, Kurois managed to find a faster walking pace than usual. He and Ash walked a little faster now, and both of them did their best to hurry.

"Hey, Kurois, you told me that you had a different name before, what was it?" Ash asked as shrugged his shoulders to adjust the strap on his weapon. Kurois, who was walking to the side of him, coughed and spit on the ground before him.

"I don't have to tell you that," Kurois grunted. Ash sighed and turned to his right to look at him while they walked.

"We might as well talk about _something_. It's really awkward you know," Ash returned, ducking under a branch and looking out into the fields to see if they saw anything. Ash didn't have to turn to Kurois, because silence was the only thing that followed. He exhaled and gave up while walking.

'_I need to get my mind of my friends I left behind. No, don't think of it like that. They'll be all right. But what if-'_

"Damien." Ash turned. If it weren't for him recognizing Kurois's voice, it would've been like a voice from heaven because Kurois looked as if he stayed silent the entire walk.

"What was that?" Ash asked in response, quickly looking at the ground to make sure that he didn't step on any dead branches on the way forward. He looked up again to see Kurois move his mouth,

"Damien." Ash was now certain that he said that word. But… Damien?

"Hm. That's a pretty cool name. Better than Kurois, that's for sure." Ash turned to catch a glare from the black haired boy, and Ash chuckled.

"Jeez! I'm just kidding! What does your name even mean anyway?" Kurois huffed,

"Kurois means the dark one. Pyrus means enraged fury." Ash nervously laughed,

"Maybe I wasn't kidding then." Kurois sighed and gave Ash a look that was mixed between exhaustion and annoyance.

"Listen, can we stop-"

"Were you always this grumpy? Yeesh," Ash asked. He knew about his dead girlfriend situation and all, but it was pretty sad and frustrating to see a friend like this.

"Well, no."

"Well, I know that you're not a walking ice cube that's for sure. I mean, you had a really good time with that one kid. I never actually thought I would see you act like that!" Ash smiled at the teen. Kurois looked away, a little embarrassed that he let his more tender side show.

"Well, he's a little kid. Of course I would act like that for him. After all, he _did _lose his dad." Ash chuckled and looked forward.

"That's true. He was all smiles when we were there. He reminds me of Cyphrus," Ash rested his hands on his weapon as it hung from his neck and shoulder. Kurois scoffed,

"I've heard a lot about him."

"Like what?"

"His kill count is over one _thousand_." Ash gulped,

"Well, yeah, that's true, actually."

"He's also not that bright."

"He was orphaned when he was pretty young, and he didn't really get the chance to go to school or get a good education or anything like that…"

"I also heard that he smiles constantly."

"Well, yeah."

"Doesn't that get kind of annoying?" Kurois asked Ash. Ash chuckled,

"Maybe, but smiles really do go for miles in his division. Lily tells me that his smile brings a lot of confidence to the soldiers around him. And besides, his smile isn't always really cheesy looking." Kurois nodded.

"Tell me more about him. We might as well talk because this is going to be one long walk."

"Well, I dunno. Something about him is just amazing."

"Like what?"

"He's lost a lot, and I'm surprised he can even smile. He's actually worst off than you are." Kurois gave Ash a dark look, and Ash put up his hands in defense,

"I'm not saying that what you went through was nothing though! It's just that…" Ash put his hands down and looked towards the ground as he frowned.

"He lost everything." Kurois raised an eyebrow. The only things going around about Cyphrus was his smile and his combat record and strangely, that was the first time he's heard of Cyphrus's back story.

"His mom died from sickness when he was little, and he lived with an older brother and a little sister along with his dad after. When the mavericks attacked, his sister Mari was on the other side of the bridge in the city he was in. He, his brother, and his dad got attacked from the Maverick attack. His dad died during the attack, and his older brother died protecting him. Cyphrus spent three days in the city after that, trying to reach his little sister. He eventually got found by the Mavericks, but then his arm was cut off. Luckily, Cyphrus knew how to fight back and managed to get away, out of the city."

Kurois clenched his fist over his rifle.

'_Damn Mavericks…'_

"He eventually ended up in an orphanage where he got a prosthetic limb. He and his buddy, Shawn, both trained themselves to enlist in the Aeonian Youth. Cyphrus thought he would eventually find his sister with all of the military intel. I guess he was right. Our last raid on the prison freed a bunch of POWs and I think Mari was one of them. Hopefully, she's okay," Ash sighed.

"It must be tough," Kurois commented.

"Yeah. Sad thing is that he can't leave until the war is over. Since he's the only bio match for the Biometal, he has to keep fighting until he dies or until Aeonia wins. Even if he did find his sister, she would have to wait because of the war." Kurois growled and clenched his fists. _Nobody _in this world seemed to care. Why would they have to put an adolescent through so much pain and suffering? Why-

"Woah, slow down! You're going to hurt yourself!" Ash put a hand on Kurois's shoulder. Kurois slowed down, a little surprised at his little burst of anger. Pain shot through his ankle and Kurois frowned.

"Sorry." The two walked on with Ash a little too intimidated to ask Kurois something. Kurois, however, noticed this and sighed,

"Hey Ash, what do you plan on doing when you get home?" Ash looked at him,

"Oh! Uh…" Ash scratched the back of his head,

"I don't-don't really know.'

"Aren't you going to see that one Latias girl?" Kurois asked as he limped. Ash sighed.

"Well, yeah, but-"

"But what? Aren't you two going out or something?"

"No, I actually haven't asked her out yet." Kurois nodded.

"Does she like you?"

"I-I don't know, we got pretty close before I left though."

"How close?" Ash got a little red in the face,

"Well, apparently we slept together." Kurois whipped his head towards Ash, his face twisted in disbelief and horror. Here he thought that Ash was a good boy.

"You two had sex and you didn't even ask her out?" Kurois stopped walking, appalled at his friend for doing such a thing.

"Th-that's not what I meant!" Ash said with his hands up, defending himself.

"W-we just ended up sleeping NEXT to each other!" Kurois' look subsided, and was replaced with a snicker.

"Riiiiight."

"I swear! She's too…!" Ash paused, his face growing red as thoughts of actually _doing it _went through his mind. He shook his head clear of those thoughts, but the thought of her character and her actions led him to his next description of her:

"Innocent…"

"Oh, so now you're taking advantage of her?"

"NO!" Kurois's face lit up in laughter. It was really rare to see him joking around like this.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding." Kurois stopped laughing with a smile on his face.

"Well, tell me more about her Mr. Pedophile." Ash huffed before moving the sling on the weapon to his other shoulder.

"Well, she's really nice, really playful, and she's just… cute." Kurois nodded.

"And this girl is a… what do you call them… pokèmon right?" Ash gulped.

"Yeah, why?"

"Isn't that a bit… weird? I mean, she's a completely different species," Kurois asked with an eyebrow risen.

"Hey! Just because you're not human doesn't mean you're not a person!" Ash retorted, defending Latias. Kurois was taken aback for a couple of seconds before walking forward.

"Yeah, well… guess you're right." Ash huffed. He got a little frustrated and angsty because of him. Now, the only person he thought of was Latias. His face turned pink as he thought of her, thinking about her smile, her eyes, her face, everything about her seemed perfect to him. Even her laugh and just… her! God, he had a hard time just thinking of her. He just wanted to stop all of this and tell her that he loved him, tell her that-

"Thinking of her?" Kurois asked. Ash snapped his head to the right, seeing that Kurois was looking straight ahead.

"Y-yeah…" Ash's heart sank. He knew that it would probably be a long time before he got to see her again.

"That's good. Keep thinking of her. It's what keeps you alive," Kurois commented. Ash nodded at the truth of his message.

"Yeah…" Ash sighed, and he turned to Kurois to get his mind off Latias,

"Hey Kurois, what are you going to do once you get home?" Kurois sighed, shrugging.

"To be honest with you, I don't know. I don't think I can face my parents or Violet's parents if I ever go back. I don't ever think I'm going to find anybody as special as Violet either. The only thing I do well in my life is what I'm doing now. This war is all I have left," Kurois sulked. Ash frowned.

"But, don't your parents want you back? I mean, they can't possibly hate you for what you've done." Kurois shook his head,

"You don't understand. My city got taken over by Neolians. I don't even know if they still exist any more. Besides, I was never close with them anyway." Ash sighed.

"I see." Ash didn't know what to say to that, but he opened his mouth and told him.

"Hey, maybe you can go to my world after this war is over." Kurois raised an eyebrow,

"Oh really?" Ash nodded,

"Yes really." Kurois chuckled.

"I really doubt it." Ash laughed,

"Stop being so pessimistic! Jeez!" Ash punched Kurois' shoulder. The older soldier chuckled once more.

"Is it a nice place?" Ash looked at him,

"Are you kidding me? It's a whole lot better than this place if you ask me!" Kurois let out a "Hm" as he walked.

"Let's make a deal. I'll make sure you stay alive until you see Latias again and you find me a way into your world. Deal?" Kurois stuck his hand out. Ash grinned, shoving his hand onto his.

"Deal."

The two soldiers walked on with smirks on their faces. From what seemed like an endless and depressing war emerged a new sense of confidence, determination, and hope. Their resolve was strengthened and they found themselves walking faster in hope of finding a friendly unit nearby.

However, the two abruptly turned around when they heard gun shots and the sound of cannons. The two stopped and looked over their shoulders. The two managed to see a flash of light emerging from an area close to the others. The two looked at each other and frowned, but the two sped up their pace and moved forward without hesitating.

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**Thanks for reading guys, and please, REVIEW. You guys have no idea how much reviews help me to keep going. If I don't get reviews at all, it's just depressing and it takes me longer to update. So please review if you respect the story or the author, drop in a "I liked this part" or "I think you could've done better here when." Trust me, it helps a LOT. **

**But don't be writing: "Update soon! Hurry Up!" or things like that. In fact, those stress me out even more, making it harder to write, which makes it longer to write. I understand that some of you want to read the next section soon, but please, bear with me. I'm not a machine, I'm a human being with priorities and honestly, FF is wayyy down there.**

**Shoot me a PM or an Email if you want to chat. Don't worry, I won't bite!**

**See you all next time!**


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